Snake eyes
by metamo
Summary: He met her at a ball, and became obsessed, the ministry is in chaos and Lucius Malfoy faces some tough decisions he can risk everything for the innocent girl he's watched for a year or take the easy way out again.all feedback appreciated :
1. Prolougue: Remembering

**Disclaimer: The world and most characters of this story belong to Jk. Rowling.**

If the truth was told, Lucius Malfoy had been very alone for a long time, a year had passed since his wife had left him, it had been a strained relationship to say the least.

Narcissa blamed Lucius for endangering their son's life and for making their family social outcasts, maybe she was right and, while Lucius had cared about Narcissa deeply, he had never Loved her as one should Love their wife, he had assumed that with time the Love that he wanted to feel for her would happen, it never did.

He didn't know much of Narcissa's current situation, what he did know was that she was now living somewhere in London, he knew that she didn't have his smarts, no, Lucius Malfoy was very intelligent, he was working hard to regain his power.

Lucius had taken a small job for the ministry, he worked from his home filling out paperwork, a tedious job, but, it had got him some good contacts and from his paperwork he had a good idea of the misdeeds of the ministry, information he could use against them.

The ministry was in panic, they feared the dark arts more than ever now, what if some other witch or wizard decided to go bad and cause havoc as Voldermort had? Security was up, a new force of wizards patrolled the streets, their job was to keep the peace and identify threats, they were different from the Aurors, more brutal, more violent, they were licensed to attack at the slightest sign of suspicious behaviour.

Naturally, some witches and wizards objected to this, they believed it unfair and a breach unto their privacy, those stupid enough to act on their displeasure openly were taken straight to Azkaban, those who acted anonymously were labelled a threat and hunted down. Every few weeks Lucius received a pile of paperwork pertaining to those that had been found guilty, most of it was dedicated to the covering up of the monstrosities committed against them.

Lucius had sent off his last bit of paperwork for the day, he was relaxing in his study with a glass of wine, the same type that he had drunk at the christamas eve of 1997.

It had been a cold night, very cold, yet he had decided to go to the masquerade ball anyway, he remembered arriving and walking around the hall, he knew people there, but couldn't tell who they were beneath the masks, he knew that Snape had sent his NEWT level students too, amongst the costumes and masks however, there was no way of knowing who anyone really was.

He had picked up a glass of wine and made his rounds talking to other attendees, as it was the polite thing to do, he had passed the balcony once already, he didn't expect anyone to be out there in this cold, he was wrong, and, she was alone.

In a black and burgundy ball gown, she stood, leaning on the balcony, looking at the moon, contented in her thoughts, when she heard footsteps, she turned around to look at the man approaching her.

"Good evening" He said politely

"Good evening" she replied and went back to looking at the moon in a dreamy sort of way.

"Are you not enjoying the ball?" He asked

"Oh, it's alright, but the moon is unusually bright tonight, I thought I'd come out to enjoy its beauty"

He chuckled, she was a rather unusual girl, she intrigued him, the more they talked, the more unusual she seemed to be, she seemed as if she were an unusual and rare diamond.

"Do you dance?" he asked eventually

"No, I don't know how" she replied honestly

" Then I shall teach you"

When the bell sounded at midnight people started to remove their masks, Lucius did not, he didn't want it to get back to Narcissa that he had danced with another woman.

The girl removed her filigree mask and revealed a pale face, her paleness accentuated her shockingly green eyes.

"Don't I get to see your face?" she asked her mystery man

"Not yet" he said, he kissed her hand "Stay safe"

She left moments later and returned to Hogwarts castle with the others.


	2. Being watched

Ebony DiSilva was sitting in her flat, reading a book, she had a strange feeling that she was being watched, she had experienced the feeling every now and then for just over a year, she would turn her head and something would shoot out of her range of vision, she'd feel something brush past her when nothing was there.

This time she was sure she was being watched, she had looked out of the window and illuminated by the street light was a person in a cloak, she looked away for a second, thinking she'd heard a mouse (she had just rid herself of an infestation) when she had turned back to the window, the cloaked figure had gone.

Maybe she had just imagined it, she tried to comfort herself. She closed the curtains and went back to her book, she spent hours reading, she liked to lose herself in a good book.

The radio was on, it was 11pm, and there was a knock at the door, she thought it was her landlord complaining about her music, again, she could just imagine his tirade he'd give her

"Now now, Miss DiSilva, I like a good song as much as the next bloke, but this is unreasonable, you may not think it is loud, but Mrs Crump upstairs has just been knocking at my door, and I know there is only 12 more days left in your tenancy contract, but, I can't give you special privileges because of that…"

Maybe if she ignored him, he'd get bored and leave her alone, hopefully. She stayed put, trying to concentrate on her reading a while longer, to no avail, the knocking just got more frantic.

"You win Mr Costa" she muttered as she unlocked the door, expecting him to start his tirade the moment he heard the lock click, She turned the handle, still no tirade, maybe it wasn't about her music after all, the door was fully open and it wasn't Mr Costa standing in front of her.

She didn't know who this person was or what they did to her, all she knew was that she couldn't see a thing, it was hard to breathe, it was like air had thinned to nothingness and any attempts at breathing were futile, she kicked out, trying to escape, she was just using up energy though.

Ebony eventually gave in, exhausted and unable to breathe she fell limp.


	3. Ebony awakes

Ebony was not aware of her surroundings, all she knew was that she felt very comfortable, she wondered if she was dead, if she was, she didn't mind, after all it was very comfortable.

She recalled the incident of the night before "yes, I suppose I am dead" she thought to herself "it's not all that bad really, it's like a soft bed…with the cool side of the pillow" she was content in believing that she was dead.

She was like that for an hour, taking in all of the textures and smells of her supposed death, she hadn't thought to open her eyes at all, she felt as if it were impossible, her eyelids just felt to heavy, but, once she concentrated she could see light passing through her eyelids. She tried to open her eyes, too look at death, her eyelids fluttered open she saw her surroundings, she was in a bedroom, a very nice, expensive looking bedroom.

Looking to the window she saw the grounds outside, she blinked hard, she was sure she saw what looked like an albino peacock, she blinked again, the peacock was still there walking across the grass. Ebony sat up on the bed and walked to the window, she wanted a better look at this peacock, suddenly another one came into view.

"This is too weird" she said aloud, she turned around to take in the rest of the room, four poster bed- nice, a big, old armchair in the corner opposite the window and a vanity table. The wallpaper was a cream colour, in fact, the whole room was in light colours, except the door, the door was a large wooden dark oak door.

Curious to see the rest of her surroundings, Ebony walked over to the door, she tried to open it, but it was locked, she reached to her pocket where she usually kept her wand

"Shit, no wand" she muttered as she resigned herself to sitting back on the bed, death was beginning to seem a little boring if all she had was this one room, it did have a spectacular view, but, spending the rest of eternity with it as her only entertainment seemed rather depressing. She looked to the vanity table and caught her reflection in the mirror, at least she didn't look like she had a tiring struggle with a stranger the night before, she ran her fingers through her brown hair and sighed. Ebony sat there scrutinising her appearance for what seemed like hours, although it was most likely no more than 1 hour.

No books, no people. No nothing, Ebony was bored, she'd considered climbing out of the window, but it wouldn't open enough for her to get out, she was sitting grumpily in the arm chair when she thought she heard footsteps, no- she did hear foot steps, coming closer to the door, then passing it again, it sounded to Ebony that this person was pacing up and down a corridor outside.

After a while the pacing had begun to annoy Ebony, it frustrated her that while she was stuck in that room someone else seemed to have the freedom to move about as they wished, her brow furrowed in frustration as she tried hopelessly to fit through the gap in the open window once more. The peacocks seemed to be goading her by now, displaying their plumage and walking freely outside, it was a warm and sunny sort of day, and Ebony wanted nothing more than to be out there enjoying it, even if she was dead.

She threw herself back onto the bed with a frustrated 'UGHH!' the bed was very comfortable, but she no longer cared about that, she just wanted to be outside of the room. The pacing had stopped, and Ebony was glaring out of the window, she barely noticed that the door had been unlocked and opened.

"Enjoying the view?" A man asked her

"No!" Ebony said coldly as she turned around to look at him

She couldn't hide that she was impressed with what she saw, he was a rather attractive man, she recognised him, he had appeared in the daily prophet a fair few times in the past.

"It is a shame that you have not enjoyed the view, I am disappointed"

"Hmpf" Ebony went back to glaring out of the window

"I am Lucius Malfoy"

"I know" Ebony sneered "I suppose this means I'm not dead then?"

"Whatever gave you that idea?" Lucius asked mockingly

"Well last night you attacked me! And the last thing I remember is being unable to breathe and complete blackness everywhere!" Ebony said angrily

"I did not attack you! I saved you!"

"How did you work that out?"

"Right now Ministry officials will be raiding your flat, looks like someone gave your name in court and made you a suspect for all the so called 'disturbances' lately"

"How would you know that?" Ebony spat out

"I just happen to be working on the paperwork pertaining to this 'search'"

"Surely there have been other people you could have saved" Ebony was seething "why did you choose me?" she finally spat out

"Because we have met before! You danced with ME at the masquerade ball and I have been watching you ever since!" Lucius seemed to be getting angered too

"So not only did you kidnap me, you've been stalking me too, that's just great!"

A dangerous look came across Lucius' face

"When we met, you intrigued me, caught my interest, I never meant for you to know, but when I saw what they had planned for you I acted impulsively, I did what I thought was RIGHT!"

Ebony could hear the truth in his words, he had done what he thought was right, but it didn't stop her form being angry.

"What were they planning for me?" Ebony asked

"They want to take you for 'questioning' however, in this time, questioning is a monstrous thing, the ministry are so scared, they'll do anything to put an end to any 'would-be' dark wizards, no one that they have taken so far has come back the same-if at all"

Again Ebony could tell that Lucius was telling the truth, and that scared her, the idea that she was safer once kidnapped than in her own home was a terrifying idea, she sat herself down on the bed and started to shaking, all this information she had to take in was almost too much for her. She started to gasp for air, she was hyperventilating, having a panic attack brought on by fear. Lucius was kneeling in front of her

"Look at me" he said forcefully, Ebony did as he said. "As long as you are here, you are safe, as long as you are with me, there is nothing to worry about"

Ebony had started to calm down, Lucius spoke to her again.

"Through the door, turn left, the next room you see is your own dressing room, get changed, I will show you around and take you down for some food, I hope you'll be more grateful for that than you were for me saving you"


	4. conversations with oneself

The dressing room was a very big room indeed, railing went around the room and hundreds of coat hangers were hanging off of the rails, a small section in the corner had clothes on the hangers, Ebony noticed that they were in face, some of her own. She was taken aback, she never thought that Lucius Malfoy would have gone to the trouble of going through her packed up boxes in her flat to find her some clean clothes to wear.

Ebony inspected the clothes on the rail and picked out a long, flowing skirt and a white cotton shirt to match, there were no windows in this room, she couldn't escape from there, even if she ran from the room, she would still have to find her way out, and with Lucius in the room next door, she wouldn't stand much of a chance.

Lucius was waiting in the hallway as she exited the dressing room, she stuck out his arm, stiffly, Ebony was confused, but gingerly took hold of it.

"There is not much on this floor to tell you about, bedrooms, bathrooms and dressing rooms mostly, the entrance to the attic is at the northernmost end, the attic is a kind of 'safe room' although it has yet to be used"

They continued down the stairs and into the atrium, as they walked Lucius would point out more rooms 'the drawing room' 'the library' 'study' they stopped in the kitchen

"The stairs in this room lead to my wine cellar and house elf quarters" he said

"You have a house elf?" Ebony blurted out

"Yes, it took a long time to find another one after Dobby, she is relatively young" he replied

"Master" a small voice said "your food is ready"

Lucius lead Ebony into the dining room, a tall grandfather clock stood at the far end and Ebony saw that it had just passed midday. The table had two plates set out with what seemed to be some sort of seafood.

Ebony had never liked eating in front of people, however, Lucius was not paying attention, instead he was reading the Daily Prophet, Ebony ate quickly, she hadn't realised how hungry she was and found herself immersed in watching Lucius read his news paper.

'He really is quite attractive' she thought, Ebony was very confused, logic dictated that she should not be thinking any good of him, after all, he had kidnapped her

'He seemed alright at the ball' she thought 'not the sort that would do something like this' her brow furrowed

'Maybe, he's not so bad' a voice in the back of her head whispered innocently

'He kidnapped me'

'If he hadn't you'd probably be locked up in a cell in Azkaban by now. . .'

'Probably, not definitely'

'You liked him at the ball, you said so yourself'

'Shut up!'

'Give him a chance'

'Why should I? He's Lucius Malfoy, cold, merciless, and uncaring'

'If he was so uncaring why did he save you? Then go to the trouble of bringing your clothes?'

'Go away'

Lucius had looked up from his paper

"Why are you staring at me?" he asked suspiciously

"I wasn't staring at you, why would I stare at you? I was thinking!"

Lucius had got up from his seat

"It'd be unwise for you to leave the grounds, if you need me I will be in the study"

Ebony glared at him as he left the room.

Ebony was sitting under a tree in the grounds of Malfoy manor, she knew he was right when he said it'd be unwise for her to leave, she had decided to wait, to see when anymore information popped up, when she was sure it'd be easy for her to leave, then she would leave. There was a crack and suddenly the house elf was standing beside Ebony

"Master has sent Mink to check on you miss" it said

"Oh"

"Before Miss arrived, he told Mink, 'you make sure she is happy, you give her only the best' Master thinks very highly of you Miss"

"It doesn't seem that way" Ebony sighed

"Is there anything I can get Miss?" Mink asked

"No, I'm okay thanks"

With that the house elf left, Ebony laid back on the grass, it was still very warm and enjoyed the heat, A peacock walked up to her, tilted it's head and looked at her quizzically, Ebony laughed.

"You're silly" she said to it and the peacock blinked at her still with the same strange look on it's face, after a few more seconds observing her, the peacock walked away.

An owl flew overhead towards the manor, Ebony sighed, thinking of her friends whom she'd probably never get to write to again for a very long time, her best friend, Alyss Crewe, was working in Lebanon as a curse breaker for Gringotts, Ebony used to receive a nice fat letter from her once a month, she enjoyed reading about Alyss' adventures. Then there was Sasha, who had married early to a wealthy older man as it was her fathers wish for her to do so, Sasha's weren't usually long, but, always amusing, full of anecdotes about married life. Ebony wanted nothing more than to read one of those letters again.

Ebony's chest had started to sting, she looked down and saw that she had started to burn, she didn't want to go inside, that's where he was, but the stinging of her skin dictated that she had to, she walked silently through the manor, not wanting Lucius to hear her

'You're being silly' the innocent voice in the back of her head told her

'I told you to go away'

Ebony eventually took refuge in the library, it was a very impressive room, bigger than her whole flat, rows upon rows of shelves were lined up in 3 quarters of the room, the shelves reached the ceiling, towering over the rest of the room. The front part of the room had some chairs, a sofa, a table and a fireplace, all of which were very expensive looking. Ebony wandered through the shelves picking out random book titles 'Torture through the ages' 'How to go unnoticed' and 'Love: life's greatest mystery' to name but a few, there didn't seem to be any order to the books, or at least Ebony couldn't see any patterns, nor could she see a book that she wanted to read.

The stinging in her skin had started to get worse, it was very painful and uncomfortable, but Ebony thought, she probably deserved it, she didn't make any effort to put sun screen on before going out

'If only I had a cooling potion' she thought

'You could ask Lucius' the innocent sounding voice had come back

'I am not asking Lucius for anything'

'But, you're in pain, and you know you can whip up a cooling potion, no problem'

'No'

'The pain will just get worse'

'I know!'

'You heard what Mink said, he wants you to be happy, if you'd just ask him…'

"SHUT UP" Ebony said aloud

"I was under the impression that I hadn't said a word" Lucius drawled from behind Ebony.

Ebony whipped around to find herself only inches from Lucius, she took a step back

" I wasn't talking to you" she snapped " I was talking to, OH! Never mind!"

Ebony was frustrated, she'd never realised how pushy her imagination could be.

"You're burnt" Lucius stated

"I know that, I can feel it"

"Do you want anything for it?"

"No"

"Are you sure, it must be very painful, you've been out there all day"

"I don't want anything" Ebony said through gritted teeth

"Well ok, I just came to tell you, it's half past 6, dinner is ready"

"I'm not hungry" she lied

Ebony walked angrily to the bedroom and laid on the bed, it was still light outside and she wasn't tired enough to force sleep, she just lay there, in silence, not thinking about much at all for a while, the next time she looked out of the window, Lucius Malfoy was walking around outside, she glared at him from the window, he didn't seem to notice.

'You were really quite rude to him' the innocent voice said

Ebony ignored it

'He's really trying with you, and you know it'

'Hmpf'

'You're stuck here, with him for an indefinite amount of time, you should be trying too'

'What if I don't want to try'

The innocent voice sighed 'Then there is no hope for you'

At around 10pm Ebony drifted into a troubled sleep, she definitely preferred the bed when she thought she was dead, she thought, maybe it would have been better if someone had killed her, her last thoughts before drifting off however were not as deep, in fact they were about the pain she was experiencing in her skin.


	5. Mr Costas testament

Mr Farris Costa was a short, stocky Greek man, with a large moustache, he was a fair landlord and well liked by his tenants, it was a Friday afternoon and he had just helped the elderly Mrs. Crump take her shopping to her flat. He was relaxing on his sofa with a cup of coffee when there was a knock at the door. Mr Costa went to the door only to find the strangest dressed man that he had ever seen.

The man was dressed in a pale lilac suit, with a lime green and blue cow print tie, on his feet he wore a pair of what seemed to be women's high heeled boots. The man stuck out his hand and Mr Costa shook it politely

"I am Jacob Quincey, I am a Police man, I would like to ask you a few questions"

Jacob Quincey was not in fact a Police man, but a Wizard working for the ministry, he strode into Mr Costa's living room and sat himself on a chair. Mr Costa sat on his sofa.

"I would like to know about your tenant Ebony DiSilva" Jacob Quincey stated

"Ebony, she's a good tenant, it's a shame she didn't want to take a out a new tenancy contract" Mr Costa said

"She's leaving?"

"Well, she's pretty much left already, all her things are boxed up, I'm just waiting for her to collect them"

"Did she say where she is going to stay?"

"She mentioned that she might stay with a friend for a while, but I don't think it was a definite plan"

"Hmmm, did you ever notice anything strange about her, anything unusual or suspicious?"

"No, like I said, she was a good tenant, rent always paid on time, she was quite, I don't think she worked, poor girl, she was living off of inheritance, I'd see her every now and then when she was coming back with her shopping or on her way to town"

"Did she ever cause any trouble?"

"Oh no, not really, the most trouble was when she had her music on a bit loud, I would go up, ask her to turn it down and she would, she was very polite and respectful"

"Hmm… are you sure there was nothing unusual?"

"Well now that you mention it, there was an owl, it visited her sometimes, I'd see it fly into her flat one day, and leave the next"

"And that is all?"

" Yes, as I said, she was a good tenant, a bit shy, but there was nothing really suspicious about her"

"Very well then" Jacob Quincey said as he got up to leave "thank you for your time"

Mr Costa went back to his coffee, he turned the television on and relaxed, he thought that Mr Quincey had been a very strange man indeed, he couldn't understand why any police man would want to investigate Ebony, he didn't think there was any way that she was a criminal.


	6. Ebony's confession

Ebony had been at Malfoy manor for a month, she had a good system worked out, she'd eat breakfast with Lucius in the hope that he'd give an indication to how things were going regarding the ministry's search for her. She knew that a ministry official had been to see Mr Costa, but that was all that Lucius would tell her.

After breakfast, Ebony would spend as much of the day as possible avoiding Lucius, she was far too stubborn to suddenly change out of the blue, Ebony had put so much effort into avoiding Lucius that she barely noticed when all of her old things from her flat appeared overnight. She never had much of her own as she was living in a rented accommodation, her dressing room seemed fuller and there were a few photographs on her desk, she supposed that Mink had put her things where they were, and the books she had would be in the library, in the same disorganised way that Lucius' books were.

The late summer rain poured down ferociously, drumming against the windows like some strange percussion band, Lucius had received an owl from Draco, who was in Egypt! When Draco had told him that he wanted to travel, Lucius didn't take him seriously, he found it strange how much Draco had changed, he had once been a complete 'mummies boy' and was now very much independent and doing his own thing.

Lucius sat in his study, bored, he had sent a reply to Draco, and he had not been sent much paperwork to do. He walked lazily through his manor, hoping he'd find Ebony, he tried to convince himself that there had been an improvement between them, she had gone from glaring at him whenever he walked into a room to acting as if he wasn't there at all most of the time. On the rare occasion that she did acknowledge him, it seemed very strained. He found Ebony in one of the disused rooms upstairs that was almost completely empty apart from 2, old, worn out arm chairs.

She had positioned one so that it looked out towards the window and was sitting in it silently, curled up, a look on her face that suggested that she was deep in thought. Lucius recognised this look, it was almost the same one she wore at the ball whilst looking at the moon, it was a dreamy sort of look, serene like. Lucius would have thought that she was contented if she had not been frowning, Lucius walked to the window and placed his palms on the windowsill, looking through the rain.

"Sometimes I think that you hate me" he said softly as if only he were meant to hear it

Ebony remained silent, he turned his head towards her

"Do you?"

"Yes" she started "well..no, oh I don't know!"

Lucius nodded solemnly, a hurt look fell upon his face. Ebony felt something stir in the pit of her stomach, making her chest feel tight, something that she would never have expected to feel in regards to Lucius…Guilt.

Ebony didn't understand why she was feeling such guilt, yes, it had been quite a mean thing to say, but he had kidnapped her to begin with, he couldn't have expected her to just be fine with that. Lucius was at the doorway, Ebony had watched him go back to looking through the window then slowly walk away

"No" she said before he left "I don't hate you"

Lucius kept walking away, Ebony was sure that she had meant what she said, and she was sure that he had heard her, it felt strange that after all the time that she had been ignoring him and now what she wanted was for him to have at least acknowledged what she had said. She had become so used to him talking to her, even when she didn't reply that him ignoring her felt like a spear penetrating through her very being.

Ebony had decided to join Lucius for dinner that evening, however when Mink had finished cooking and sent food to the plates, Lucius was not there, Ebony ate alone, then went to her room. Ebony wished she could send a letter to Alyss and Sasha, they would have been able to give her some advice, she wouldn't know what to say to them though, and she pondered the idea.

'Some guy kidnapped me, and I said something that upset him and now he's ignoring me! How can I get him to notice me again?'

Ebony considered borrowing on of Lucius' owls to send a letter to her friends, but what if the letters were searched? Then the ministry would know where she was. Ebony was feeling very alone, she found it hard to believe, but there was a part of her that truly missed Lucius' presence around her.

Lucius was not present at breakfast the next morning, Ebony had resolved to stay in the dining room until he made an appearance; she rationalised that he would have to eat at some point during the day. At around midday Lucius came into the dining room

"I thought so" he said

"You thought what?"

"I haven't heard you since you came in here this morning, I thought you hadn't left"

"Oh"

"What are you doing staying here all day?" he said demandingly

"I was waiting for you"

Lucius raised an eyebrow mockingly

"Why do you insist on pushing me?" he said

"What?"

"You say you hate me, then instantly change your mind, for the past month you have barely even looked at me let alone make any sort of contact, even when I have tried, and yes I have tried, very hard, but there is only so much a man can take. You have been rude when talking to me, if you replied at all! And now I find you waiting for me, as if none of that ever happened! Do you enjoy causing me such pain?"

"I do not wish to cause you any more pain, but Mr Malfoy, please put yourself in my shoes, one moment I am living a normal life, a good life then the next I am here, I find out that you have been practically stalking me for just over a year and that the ministry is after me." Ebony paused for breath "Do you know how horrible it feels to know that you are probably safer with the person who kidnaps you than you are in your own home? No! I don't think you do" she paused again, tears were starting to well up in her eyes.

"And to top it all off, I know that you are trying, I know you want me to be safe, but, whenever a part of me sees that, I feel angry with myself! You are not meant to sympathise with your kidnappers! And then I feel guilty for treating you so coldly when I know you have done nothing but be good to me"

Ebony had broken down and was slumped back into her seat.

Lucius had expected many things, but never did he expect the girl to break down in tears right in front of him, he had no idea what to do, if he tried to put an arm around her, would she accept it? Probably not. He sat in the chair beside her, watching and waiting for her to calm, he knew it was important for her to let everything out. It took an hour for Ebony to stop crying, Lucius tried to give her a sympathetic smile, but it was a sentiment he wasn't used to and he seemed very awkward in his attempt.

"I have news" he said

Ebony made eye contact

"The Aurors are furious, they haven't been able to find you, Kingsley Shacklebolt has demanded that everything to do with you is to be forwarded through him, he said that he'll take on the whole case himself if he has to. He has bowed to most of the Aurors demands so far because he can't really afford to lose them, but they're getting a bit big for their boots trying to catch you and some others"

"So, the minister is involved? That's not good"

"Not good? It's very good actually, Kingsley is a very fair man, with him on the case things won't get blown out of proportion, I expect no one will bother you unless you do something suspicious"

"But isn't not going out, having no wand and generally not being seen suspicious in itself?"

Lucius contemplated what Ebony had said for a moment

"I suppose you are right, tomorrow, I shall give you some money, and you will go to Diagon alley, with Mink, buy yourself a new wand, and treat yourself with what ever is left"

Ebony was shocked

"Mr Malfoy, I cannot take your money"

"Yes you can, I won't take no for an answer, also, it's Lucius, you are my guest, not a servant"

Ebony let out a small laugh and Lucius raised an eyebrow

"I was under the impression I was a hostage, not a guest"

" You were free to leave any time you wanted to"

He and Ebony parted ways, Lucius was in his study, writing some sort of report about overcrowding at Azkaban, Ebony had gone to the library to find where her books had been put, it was a pleasant surprise when she found them all in a few small piles on the table. She picked up her old, tattered copy of Frankenstein. She found her bookmark exactly where she had left it and continued reading.

Dinner was a quiet affair, both parties involved had grown used to eating alone, any conversation made was awkward, so they remained silent, which didn't bother Lucius, as it wasn't the same cold, resentful silence he had been forced to endure for a month before Ebony's break down. He was grateful that she had not asked how he got all of the information from the ministry. He didn't think she would have been so open with him if she had known how he had been blackmailing and bribing several people in different departments so that he could know what was going on when it came to her.


	7. A change

Diagon Alley had changed a lot in the past year, Ebony had officially left school in the June of 1998, her last trip into Diagon alley was days before her 18th birthday in July the same year, there were now 'watchmen' stationed everywhere. Ebony was nervous, but she trusted Lucius, and he had said as long as she wasn't doing anything that was suspicious, they couldn't touch her. First of all Ebony had to get a new wand, she was pleasantly surprised to see that Mr Ollivander was back in business, she walked into the shop gingerly and Mink followed.

"I remember you Miss DiSilva" Said Ollivander "birch, 12 and a half inches, unicorn hair, nice wand for charm work"

"That's right" Ebony said, with a smile

"Whatever happened to it?"

"It got damaged when I moved out of my flat" Ebony lied, the truth was, she didn't know what had happened to it

"Ahh well, never mind, never mind, we can sort you out with a new one, no problem"

Mr Ollivander got out his tape measure and let it do its work giving the occasional 'hmm' every now and then.

The tape measure had finished and Mr Ollivander looked delighted

"I think I have just the wand!" he said, "Willow, 10 inches, unicorn hair"

Ebony waved the wand and got a nasty shock when it sent and painful pulse down her arm, she let out a cry of pain and dropped the wand back onto the counter.

"Or not" muttered Ollivander "never mind, try this one, the most recent one that I have made. Rosewood, 13 inches, phoenix feather"

This wand felt more comfortable in her hand, but when she waved it, nothing happened.

"No, not that one either, we are not as lucky as your first time are we?"

Mr Ollivander went right to the back of the shop and pulled out a very dusty looking wand box

"Try this one" He said "14 inches, oak, dragon heartstring, very sturdy, reliable"

Ebony waved the wand and a golden stream erupted from the tip

"Miss DiSilva, I think we have found your new wand"

Ebony was very happy with her wand, she preferred it to her old one immensely, her next shopping stop was an antiques shop, she missed having a radio, the one in her flat was part of the fixtures there and not truly her own. Ebony had a tough time deciding between 2 vintage radios in the antique shop, and decided finally on the one that would go best with the décor at Malfoy manor. Her final purchase was a short travelling cloak, it was a dark green with silver fastens, it just about passed her elbows.

Ebony had decided to get the knight bus back to Malfoy Manor, as she could not apparate easily and didn't like using floo powder, she always felt ill after using the floo network and avoided it where possible. She was most unhappy when Lucius insisted that she use floo powder to get to Diagon alley. The knight bus arrived almost instantly after she had stuck out her wand hand and she was shocked to see Stan Shunpike was once again the conductor.

"Where you going?" he asked abruptly

"Wiltshire" Ebony said softly

"That will be abou' 6 galleons an' 2 sickles then, for the pair of ya" he said indicating Mink

"Oh, ok" Ebony said as she handed over the money

Ebony and Mink found themselves some seats

"Anywhere in particular in Wiltshire you want to be going?" asked Stan

"Near Malfoy manor" Ebony replied politely

"Wha'choo going there for?"

"I work there" Ebony lied quickly

Stan shuddered "That Lucius Malfoy, 'e's bad news 'e is"

Ebony looked up "he's not so bad" she said

"Wha'choo mean 'not so bad'?"

"He has a bit of a temper on him, sure, but he's been good to me"

Stan shuddered again "'E was a death eater, 'e was right in wiv you no 'oo's inner circle"

Ebony shrugged

After that Stan left Ebony alone, the knight bus rocketed through several destinations.

Stan turned towards Ebony "nex' stops you" he said

The knight bus stopped very suddenly, the force made Mink fly out of her chair, the knight bus had stopped very close to Malfoy manor, about a minutes walk away, if that, they were back inside the grounds by 2 in the afternoon. Ebony had put her radio on the vanity table in the bedroom and placed her wand next to it, before hanging up her travelling cloak. She was unsure whether or no she should go to find Lucius, she was confused, they had only been on speaking terms for a day really. She couldn't decide whether it was the right thing to do, to just continue as if the past silent month had been nothing at all.

'No' Ebony thought 'I cannot slip back into the frosty silence, that got me nowhere, I'll just go downstairs, knock on the study door and say hello, so he knows that I am back, if he starts a conversation then I will talk, if not, I'll go outside or something'

It was only a basic idea, Ebony was feeling very conflicted about the whole thing. She went downstairs and straight to the study, only to find that the door was open.

Lucius knew that she was there, standing at the doorway, he lifted his head to look at her. Ebony noticed how different he looked, weak, pathetic and tired, something was wrong, very wrong. She strode purposefully towards him, all the while maintaining eye contact, he looked terrible close up, depressed and totally weak. Ebony was unsure of what to do, she simply laid a hand on his back and began to stroke his hair softly.

"Someone cast the dark mark" he said eventually in a whisper

"Ministry came…Dementors with them" he muttered weakly

Ebony thought it strange that he was showing such weakness, it took her by surprise that he could feel that way, she felt sorry for him.

Lucius allowed himself a moment of weakness, he buried his face into Ebony's shoulder and let out a small, pathetic moan. When he looked back up at her, she took a step back

"When did they leave?" Ebony asked

"About half hour ago"

"Oh God" Ebony said "did you…" she trailed off

"Of course I didn't, I don't know who did, I told them so, any idiot with half a brain could probably find out how to cast it" He said, trying to sound like the usual, strong and arrogant Lucius Malfoy.

Ebony nodded once "I should have know it wasn't you, stupid of me really"

"I don't blame you, if I was you I would have asked too"

There was an awkward pause

"I should probably write to Draco, this is something he ought to know about, it won't take me long" he said

Ebony turned to leave the room

"Thank you" Lucius said as she left.

Ebony was shocked, at herself mostly, she didn't believe she had it in her to act so kindly towards Lucius, she had resolved to be more polite towards him, and she did appreciate his presence, but to comfort him? Ebony felt as if something was changing deep within her, something that she didn't understand. She couldn't put her finger on what changed exactly, but something happened in the study, something that changed her. Not knowing what this change was frustrated her, she still felt like Ebony, she still looked like herself, however, there was something so very different about her. Ebony had turned on the radio and tuned it into a random station, she was laying on the bed listening to the music when Lucius wandered into the room. Ebony acknowledged him but before he could say a word shot her hand up to silence him, A piano piece was being played.

"Fantaisie-Impromptu" Ebony said quietly "it's my favourite"

Lucius didn't speak or even move until the piece was finished, he sat on the bed next to Ebony, who was still lying on her back

"I wanted to say thank you again" he said "When you came in, I didn't expect, well I don't know what I expected, I just didn't think you'd do what you did"

"I didn't think I'd do that either, not until the last moment, something took over, it was like that was what I was meant to be doing"

Lucius looked at her as if he were questioning her

"I can't explain it" Ebony said, "it just happened"

"Well then, I'm glad it did happen"

Ebony suppressed a smile

Lucius stood up

"That song" he said "Fantaisie-Impromptu, it was very good"

This time, Ebony did smile, she thought she had understood what had changed, and it felt good.


	8. At the ministry

"I don't think it was Malfoy, sir" said a rugged looking wizard

"No?" said the other man coolly

"No, he was tremblin' head to toe at the end, stayed by his story the whole time"

"And you took 2 Dementors?"

"That is correct"

"And you couldn't have got that information out of him without any type of force?"

"He was a death eater Mr Shacklebolt, I didn't want to risk anything"

"I know very well what he was"

Kingsley Shacklebolt rose from his chair, and walked around the office, stopping again at the window behind the desk

"Lucius Malfoy is not a threat to us" he said finally

"What about that girl? She could have…" the rugged looking wizard started to say

"She was seen in Diagon alley today, at the same time the mark would have been cast, I am sure you are aware that it is impossible for her to have been in both places at once"

The rugged wizard opened and closed his mouth, about to say something, but stopped himself

"The only thing we have to go by for her is the word of a rebel that had acted out against the ministry, I thought I had made it clear, we only watch these suspects, and take action if they start being involved in suspicious activities"

"She was buying a new wand today" said another, smaller wizard in a squeaky excited voice, that sounded as if he had just unravelled her plans.

"Wizards and witches often find themselves in the unfortunate situation of needing a new wand, that is nothing suspicious"

"But she was with a house elf! Aha! That's a bit odd, don't you agree" the squeaky voiced wizard said

"Odd, but not suspicious, didn't her landlord say she was maybe going to stay with a friend? It is possible that this friend has an elf and sent it along to help her. I stand by my decision, when she is seen, have her watched, anything unusual gets reported to me and I decide what action to take. As for Lucius Malfoy I want an apology sent to him regarding the Dementors that you bought into his home, Simms. That is all."

_**A/N:** I SWEAR this is the last update of the night! it's just a very short chapter that I thought might be useful, I don't think I got across how 'power hungry' the Aurors have become as well as i'd liked to, anyhoo, I have a good idea where I want this whole thing to end up, although the means of getting there change daily_, I have a relatively good idea of what is gonna be occuring in the next few chapters at least. Toodles!


	9. What it's like to feel

**AN:only 1 chapter today, but yeah, I need to do some serious thinking about the timeline of this, might stretch it a bit, haven't had any reviews yet (Boo) but have had some favourites! Huzzah! R&R and all that jazz...enjoy**

The change in Ebony was as if someone had lit a roaring fore in an empty house, it spread warmth throughout her, lighting the darkest of corners, spreading rapidly and unyielding for anything. It was almost painful for her, when her parents had died, she had switched off from every truly good thing that she could feel, she would have liked to say that they had died spectacularly, but they didn't. Ebony received the news whilst at school, she was taken from her charms lesson and told that her parents had died in an unfortunate house fire, it seemed as neither of them could get to their wands to extinguish it, they died several hours later in St. Mungos. She was just 16 at the time. She remembered her whole world crashing down, and switching herself off so completely, through her eyes then, the world was cold and grey, she never thought her perspective would change, she just dealt with it. Her parents had left her money, she could find her own place to stay, and from the outside it seemed that she had a good life, she even managed to convince herself that her life sometimes. She had been cold and dark for a very long time, but now a fire was roaring throughout her, allowing her to see everything with a new set of eyes.

Ebony was feeling so much for the first time in over 2 years, all the good things that she had denied herself before, she felt as if she was going to burst, as if everything that she could possibly feel was about to burst through the wall of her chest. The pain felt quite real, more than a metaphorical idea, she found herself spending much of the early hours of the morning writing and doubled over with it, occasionally moaning aloud, she had never before realised how numb she had been emotionally. She was hunched over grabbing her chest when Mink entered the room to clean, whilst Ebony was meant to be sleeping.

"Is Miss okay?" Mink asked

Ebony was exhausted, she couldn't bring herself to talk so just made a head gesture that was somewhere between a shake and a nod, she didn't want to move so much in case the pain came on strong again. Ebony knew why she was feeling the pain, she knew the exact reason, she knew it'd start to get bad again, and she was right. Another jolt of pain rushed throughout her as the fire within spread once more, she went rigid and her head jerked strangely. By that time Mink had left the room.

The fire didn't seem to be dimming, it was growing brighter and hotter, she felt it burn throughout her again. The door to her room had slammed open, Ebony was shaking uncontrollably, her vision blurred and hearing was muffled by the intense feeling she was experiencing. All she had was the fire now, she was completely exhausted, and inches from passing out cold, the fire seemed to be showing no signs of burning out.

Someone had their hand in hers, Ebony's vision was still blurred, but, she was sure it was her mum there, holding her hand, she could make out her mums, long and scruffy looking blonde hair. Her mum could have gone all night not lying down or sleeping and still have bed hair the next day. Ebony was sure that her mum was trying to talk to her, she could just imagine her saying how stupid Ebony had been for shutting out her emotions like that and that everything will be okay, the pain will pass. Ebony wasn't scared anymore, not now that her mum was with her, she managed to have a few hours sleep, She hoped the pain would lessen if she slept.

It was a strange sensation that woke Ebony up, there was something warm resting on her hand, she felt something silky resting against her too, she knew she wasn't dead. She had learnt her lesson about that before, but she didn't want to open her eyes, she could tell it was a very bright day and opening her eyes would cause them to sting. Ebony registered that the pain of the night before had gone, the fire was no longer roaring throughout her, but instead was crackling happily having done it's job. She heard a sleepy groan come from beside her and whatever had been resting against her had moved. Ebony yawned and stretched and slowly opened her eyes, she squinted as the bright light from the window entered her eyes and slowly relaxed them. Ebony's joints were aching and moving was uncomfortable, she turned around slowly.

"It was you" she said to the man sitting besides her

"What was me?" he asked sleepily

"My mother"

"What do you mean?"

"I thought my mother was here, I couldn't see well, or hear, you looked blurry, I only picked out the bed hair"

"Bed hair?"

"Yeah, her hair was always a bit wild, sort of the same colour as yours too"

Lucius gave an amused sort of 'hmm' sound and smiled weakly, the fire blazed as he did.

"What happened last night, was because of you" Ebony said in a measured way "I had been numb to all good feelings for so long, hearing of the dementors reminded me of it, because that's what they do, they take away all good feelings. Something really did click, seeing you so weak from that, I don't know, something in me told me that it wasn't right, so I went to comfort you. That one good, pure feeling that I had towards you in that moment, it opened a door, and everything that I hadn't felt in almost 3 years flooded in at once, like a rapidly spreading fire. It hurt, but it was wrong for me to stay so numb, inhuman even, it's a good thing that it did happen"

Lucius didn't know what to say

"I think my mother was there" Ebony continued "Right from the beginning, I think. She knew that I'd need you"

Again, Lucius was shocked speechless, he wouldn't find the right words to have said then for years to come.

Ebony rolled her shoulders and stretched out her arms, her joints were still sore

"I need a hot bath" she stated simply, she got out of bed, collected some clean clothes and a towel and went to one of the bathrooms, the bath was huge, the size of a small swimming pool and had many taps. The bath and floor were cold, white marble. Ebony had turned on a few of the taps, giving her purple tinged bath water and foamy bubbles that smelt of lavender and rosemary. She plunged herself into the bath, it was very hot, exactly how she liked it, and relaxed at the edge, there was a large window with a pleasant view of the outside, several white peacocks strutted about. Ebony watched them vacantly as she massaged her shoulders, trying to ease the stiffness.

"I could help you with that" Lucius said devilishly

Ebony jolted out of her relaxed daze, he had scared her creeping in like that, she sunk deeper into the water and pulled some bubbles towards her

"Don't sneak up on me like that!" she moaned

Lucius laughed

"Don't laugh! I know we're on better terms now, but that doesn't mean you get to see me naked!" Ebony said, more at him than to him "I'm getting out now anyway"

"I won't look, I swear" Lucius said

Ebony was swift in leaving the bathroom, she rushed to her dressing room to get dry and changed.

By the time Ebony had wandered downstairs, she had missed both breakfast and lunch, so she headed to the kitchen to make something to eat, she opened the cupboards to find a huge supply of cooking ingredients

"Aha!" she exclaimed as she had found the final ingredient for what she wanted to make. After an hour her cupcakes were all out of the oven and on a cooling rack

Lucius had walked into the room

"I hope you're not trying to sneak up on me again" Ebony said

Lucius laughed

"You was! Wasn't you!" Ebony almost shouted

Lucius continued to laugh and Ebony had started to brandish a spatula at him, which if anything made him laugh harder

"What is so funny?!" Ebony demanded

"You have batter on your nose, and yes, I was planning on sneaking up on you again" He said with a smirk

Ebony checked her reflection in the spatula and wiped away the batter

"You're not funny" Ebony said with a glare

"I think I'm very funny" Lucius said, in a mocking tone

"Shut up" Ebony said "Have a cupcake"

Lucius raised an eyebrow at her

"Before I force one down your throat" Ebony added sinisterly as she picked up a cupcake from the rack, Lucius shook his head, with a smirk across his face, Ebony walked out of the kitchen to walk around outside for a bit.

The weather was relatively nice, it wasn't as bright as it had been earlier, but it was still pleasant. Ebony was sitting on a stone bench, thinking about the things that she had said earlier, she had told Lucius that her mother had known that she'd need him, it was a strange sentiment, something that felt right to say at the time. Ebony thought that it had maybe been a side effect from her stressed night, but there was a small part of her that had thought she had maybe meant it too. She thought about what her life would have been like if he had not taken her. 4 walls, a small cell in Azkaban most likely, for something that she hadn't even done, she would have probably become more numb too. She would definitely have been alone, and even though she had resented Lucius at first, he had managed to wriggle his way under her skin and become something important to her, someone that she cared about, almost. The romantic in her wanted to believe that they were meant to meet, however the cynic in her simply said 'Stockholm syndrome'

At that same moment, Lucius was thinking too, Ebony confused him, he had waited for the day that she would stop being so cold with him, and now that she had, he didn't know what to do, how fast to progress, what conversation to make with her, or anything. He knew that she was intelligent, he wondered if she could tell that he was feeling such confusion towards her. He didn't quite believe this change had been permanent, expecting her to go back to ignoring him at any moment. He thought that there might have been a bit of truth when she had suggested that they were meant to meet, after all, he didn't know what had drawn him to her in the first place, nor what compelled him to watch her and keep track of her from then on. It was definitely peculiar that out of every girl at the ball he chose to spend his night with her, who was far from his normal 'type'. He simply couldn't explain the urge that he had to protect her, to make her his own, she was definitely 'his Ebony' she just didn't know it yet.


	10. Letters from Alyss

**AN:I awoke this morning to find 2 reviews =D thanks guys, these next 2 chapters are dedicated to you!!! also R&R as always. enjoy**

The rain had come back, although, not as heavy as it had previously been, the sky was still bright and the sun shone through the clouds. Ebony frowned

"You still haven't tried a cupcake" she said to Lucius

He looked at her, not saying a word

"They're not going to be as good, now that they've been left out for a day, they're still nice and all, but, best straight from the oven"

"I'll have one later" Lucius said

"No, you'll have one now" Ebony said, whilst hovering a hand over them, trying to pick one out "This one" she said

"How did you get to that conclusion?"

Ebony said nothing, but swiftly turned around, she had caught him off guard, because she had managed to pull him down so that he almost matched her height, She held a cupcake in front of his lips

"Open" she said, in the same tone a mother would use to coax a baby into eating, When Lucius reluctantly took a bite of the cupcake Ebony let him stand up straight again. He snatched the remaining cupcake from her hand and narrowed his eyes in a faked glare.

"I'm faster than I look" Ebony said mimicking Lucius' smirk temporarily before bursting out with laughter "should have seen the look on your face"

Ebony had walked out of the kitchen happily, Lucius had watched her in amazement 'faster than she looks' he thought 'stronger too!' He massaged his neck where she had grabbed hold of him. 2 days later, Lucius had a bruise on his neck, at breakfast Ebony had noticed it

"Did I do that! Wow, I'm sorry, didn't reckon you'd bruise that easily" she had said. Lucius just smirked at her

"Is it really sore?"

"Let's put it this way, if you ever bake again, I will try it straight away"

Ebony laughed.

"I have something to show you" Lucius said

"What is it?"

"I've had your mail forwarded to a safe house, you have received some letters"

"Where are they?"

"In my study, on my desk"

Ebony rushed off to the study and sat herself at the desk, and recognised all 3 letters to be in Alyss's messy scrawl.

_Eb,_

_Apollo returned the last letter I sent you, what is going on? Are you okay? There were some nasty accusations in the prophet a while back, but Shacklebolt is adamant that you are among the wrongly accused, he gave a list of names of those that aren't a threat. If you are in hiding that means you don't have to be! Gringotts have asked me to do work in London. if this and my next letter go un-replied, I am coming back to find you._

_Alyss_

Ebony picked up the second letter.

_Eb, _

_I am really worried now, please reply, I know you're out of your flat by now, even if you can't say too much, please give me an idea of where you are._

_Alyss_

Ebony had picked up the third and final letter

_Eb,_

_I am back in London, I am going to find you somehow, I want to now what is going on, I tried asking Sasha, because her husband works at the ministry, she won't tell me much, only that aurors are watching you. I will be at the muggle pub we used to sneak off to at 10pm on September 2__nd__, if you can, please meet me, in our old booth. Don't be noticed._

_Alyss_

Ebony took the last letter and showed it to Lucius

"Well" she said, "can I go?"

"That's tomorrow night, you can go, on 2 conditions"

"They are?"

"You go disguised, you won't want aurors following you there, don't worry, I can transfigure you a bit, and I will go with you"

"Ok"

Ebony couldn't believe that Lucius was letting her go.

The pub wasn't as lively as it had once been, music played softly in the background, Ebony and Lucius were sitting in the booth furthest from the door. Ebony looked nothing like herself, Lucius had made her hair shorter and a dirty blonde colour, gave her thin eyebrows and lips to match, her nose was now crooked, and looked as if she had been in a fight. Ebony dressed in her old, torn jeans and a baggy old jumper, she had made Lucius wear a plain, black suit so that he could blend in with the muggles. At exactly 10pm Alyss walked through the pub to the booth at the back and stood shocked.

"Y-you're" she stuttered

"Lucius Malfoy" Lucius interrupted "sit"

"Is that Ebony?"

"Yes" Ebony said

"Why is he here?"

"To be honest, he is the reason that I am here"

"How is that?"

"He got to me before the aurors did"

"And now that the heat has died down?"

"Aurors are still following me, they still suspect me, they're only being passive on Shacklebolt's orders, they're looking for the smallest reason to take me to Azkaban"

There was a silence, interrupted by a gagging sound coming from Lucius, who had never drank Vodka before

"You could have warned me" he said

"I didn't think you'd be dumb enough to try to drink it that fast" Ebony replied

"So you're safe with him are you?" Alyss asked

"Yes"

"Are you..happy?"

"Yes, I am, very happy, I mean, not long ago, if you'd asked me, I would have pleaded with you to help me, but, I dunno, he's been good to me…"

"What do you mean, not so long ago you would have pleaded with me to help you?!"

"I was angry, Al, you would have been too! But something happened, and now I'm sure that staying with him is the right thing"

"But, but, he's Lucius Malfoy! You heard the stories at school, you know what he can be like"

" He is also right here" Lucius said angrily

"Look Al, it's great that you came, but, if it wasn't for him, I'd be in Azkaban by now, I owe everything that I have right now to him, and, I know you're worried, but I am safe with him."

Alyss sighed and finished her drink

"Is it okay if I write?" she addressed Lucius

"As long as you are discreet in doing so" he replied curtly.

Ebony finished her drink and they all left the pub.

Ebony was looking at the moon whilst sitting on her bed, the sky was clear and she could see all of the stars perfectly, Lucius had transfigured her back to normal and was sitting beside her

"This reminds me of when we first met" He said "looking at the moon"

"It was colder then" Ebony said

"A lot colder" he agreed "You didn't have to defend me to your friend earlier" he added

"I wanted to"

Ebony rested her head on his shoulder

"It's more beautiful tonight" Ebony said softly, tracing her hand around the moon

"I agree"


	11. A surprise visitor

2 weeks has passed since their meeting with Alyss, Ebony had expected her to have written to her almost immediately, however, no owls had come. Ebony was sulking in the chair in the unused room, Lucius was sitting in the other chair, watching her intently.

"I thought that I would have heard from her by now" Ebony said, finally giving Lucius a reason behind her foul mood

"She'll write, I'm sure" Lucius tried to comfort her

"You don't know Alyss, She feels like I've betrayed her"

Lucius gave her a questioning look

"It's obvious isn't it, I took your side, chose you over her! You, of all people, that's gotta hurt"

"What are you talking about?"

Ebony didn't want to say

"If I tell you, it doesn't leave this room, if you ever come across her again, you give no indication that you know, not even one of those looks that you do! Got it?" she bit her lower lip nervously

"I promise that she will never know"

"well at school, she had a 'thing' for you. All the stories that went round, well, just made her want you more, she's attracted to danger. She got pretty obsessive, she'd slept with most of the Slytherin boys, and you would have been the Pièce de résistance. She had a news cutting with your picture, and slept with it under her pillow. One time during the holidays she dragged me to the ministry on a day that you were meant to be visiting Mr Fudge, for 5 hours she had me standing, staring at that damned phone box! Then when you finally did appear, she legged it!"

Lucius was trying to suppress laughter

"It's not really that funny, whenever you were at the school or in Hogsmeade, there was always a group of girls planning to slip you love potion"

"What?"

"Oh yeah, everyone fancied 'Draco's dad'"

Lucius laughed as she said that, shaking his head in an amused sort of way, he stood up and took hold of Ebony's hand.

"I know you are upset over Alyss, I have something that I hope will cheer you up"

Lucius lead Ebony to another unused room, a large mirror was on one wall, Lucius stood ebony in front of it

"Close your eyes" he said

Ebony heard Lucius fiddling about with things behind her, and then a clicking sound. Lucius hands draped over her collar bones and moved back, around her neck

"Open your eyes" He said

Ebony opened her eyes, and in the mirror in front of her, stared at the new addition around her neck. A beautiful old necklace was hanging around her neck, it was decorated with diamonds and rubies, the focal point of the necklace was a pendant, picturing a snake wrapped around a crown.

"It was my mothers" Lucius said "it bares her families crest"

"And I suppose she said to give it to someone special?" Ebony said, thinking that Lucius was being uncharacteristically sentimental

"Yes, she did actually"

"Lucius?"

"Hmm?"

"If that was the case, then I don't think…"

"That I should give it to you? Of course I should, if you were not special to me would you even be here in the first place? No, of course you wouldn't. Stop being silly and accept a gift when it's given to you" he snapped

Ebony looked hurt, Lucius turned her towards him, and looked her deeply in the eyes

"I should not have snapped at you" He sighed "I am sorry"

"I was shocked, no one has ever told me I'm special, not like that" Ebony said quietly, she buried her face into his chest, and Lucius held her close to him.

"Please, accompany me in my study, I have work to do, but it gets terribly lonely being in there all day"

Ebony was silent, but followed him all the same.

Lucius had intended for her to sit opposite him, on the other side of his desk. Ebony however had decided to sit at his feet, resting her head on his knee. He thought about asking her why she had chose such a position to sit in, but chose not to question her, not when she was still feeling upset about her friend. Lucius was writing fervently, occasionally taking breaks to look up sources from older reports and sources. Ebony just sat there, relaxed, the sound of his quill scratching against the paper was soothing to her ears. When Lucius wasn't writing and was instead reading over something, he would run his fingers through Ebony's hair, as if he didn't even know that he was doing it. Lucius was happy that she had accepted the necklace, to him it was proof that she was his, that she had accepted him. Ebony had started to run a finger up and down his leg, it made Lucius' heart start to beat a bit faster. He didn't understand how she could do this to him, how little she had to do to make him feel so alive. There would be times when he looked at her and something would flash behind her eyes, something that told him how she really felt towards him. He enjoyed when she initiated some sort of contact with him, it meant that they were progressing, that she was trusting him more, that she was starting to care for him as he did for her. Lucius enjoyed Ebony's strange ways, when he'd walk into a room and her hand would shoot up because she was listening to a song, or how she would stare out of a window and look so serene. He had never ask what she was thinking about when she stared out of the windows, he was confident that one day she would tell him herself. He never questioned her motives when she initiated some sort of physical contact, he enjoyed it too much to want to intimidate her with questions, it seemed to him that the time when she wouldn't even look at him was hundreds of years ago.

Ebony would never admit it to him, but she thought the innocent voice from the back of her mind had been right about Lucius the whole time, not that he knew about the little voice anyway, if he did he would have thought she was mad. Ebony was grateful that she had had a change of heart and gave him a chance, it was because of him that she was now able to truly feel happy, she just wished she could get Alyss to understand how he made her feel. Ebony wasn't sure that Alyss would ever talk to her again, this was an idea that troubled Ebony greatly. Alyss had been Ebony's best friend since she had been 5. They had lived on the same street, been in the same house at Hogwarts, and even lived together for a few months after Ebony's parents had died. Now Alyss wasn't even talking to her, it was a strange turn of events, Ebony could hardly believe it herself. She was thankful that she had Lucius looking out for her, like a knight in shining armour, her knight, her Lucius.

Lucius had stopped writing, an owl was waiting impatiently outside of the window

"Alright, I'm coming" he told it angrily as it pecked at the glass, Lucius opened the window and thrust the report at the owl who grabbed hold of it swiftly and flew off again. They had a late dinner that evening, Ebony didn't eat much, spending most of the time pushing bits of food around her plate with a fork

"I thought you liked Mediterranean food" Lucius said

"I do, but, I just don't feel up to eating much tonight, Alyss has really got to me"

Lucius reached over to her and stroked her arm

"It will be okay, I promise"

Ebony smiled at him and tried to eat some more, Lucius had summoned her a glass of wine, he was considering giving her the draught of peace to ease her, but using it on her didn't seem like the right thing to do. He continued to eat quietly, occasionally looking up to Ebony, he could see that she was troubled, and he wanted to do something to help, he would write to Alyss himself if he had to.

Suddenly there was a loud bang that echoed throughout the manor Ebony looked up from her wine glass, startled by the sound, Lucius grabbed her and held on to her tight, he did not want her where he couldn't see her. Lucius rushed her out of the dining room and into the atrium, intending to get her to the attic safe room. What he saw in the atrium surprised him, in front of them stood a very worn, tattered looking Draco Malfoy. Draco looked as if he had been in a fight, his clothes were torn and his face was bruised, for a long time he just stood there, looking at them as if saying anything would use up whatever energy that he had left. Lucius was at a loss of what to do. His son was standing before him looking terrible. Lucius called Mink and ordered her to get some healing potions from his storage, still Draco just stood there.

"F-father" he finally managed to say, "I think I'm in trouble"

Draco was shaking, scared of something

"Ebony" Lucius said "I do not think you will want to hear what Draco has to say, go upstairs, whilst we discuss this in the drawing room"

Ebony nodded and slipped off to her room, curious why Draco had turned up so suddenly and unannounced.

Ebony had the radio on, trying to find a station that she wanted to listen to, she eventually put it back to the classical music station it had already been tuned to. She was scared, convinced that Draco had come because of something to do with her, if someone had used him as a messenger to tell Lucius that they knew he had taken her, would he still stay by her? Deep down she knew that he would, but there was still that small part of her that feared if it were so, he would throw her out and let her deal with whatever happened by herself. If that happened, she wouldn't be able to go to Alyss, she'd have to live like a muggle she supposed, stay in one of their hotels maybe. Or she'd go on the run, move about the country, live in forests or in caves. Or what if the ministry came before she could leave and they took her and Lucius to Azkaban. She had only heard of what Azkaban was like, she never wanted to go there herself, she knew what it was like to be around dementors too, she shuddered at the thought of it. She tried to stay positive, whatever happened, Lucius would sort it out. Ebony thought back to something that Lucius had told her on the first day she had been at the manor

"As long as you are here, you are safe, as long as you are with me, there is nothing to worry about"

She replayed those words over and over in her head until she fell asleep, they comforted her and made her feel truly safe, she trusted him, and she trusted his words. He hadn't let her down yet, there had been plenty of times when she had thought the worst would happen, and they hadn't, Lucius had kept her safe, just as he said he would.


	12. The morning after

**AN: Checked my stats page today and I've had visitors from as far as Argentina and India! Wow! Please R&R and as always Enjoy!**

"How many times do I have to tell you?" Lucius snarled "Do not draw attention to yourself!"

Draco was slumped in a chair whilst Mink was tending to his injuries

"Just because Potter vouched for us, does not mean we are free to act as we wish! What were you doing? Talking of blood status openly? Showing off to pretty girls with dark magic?"

Lucius was towering over Draco, who was not paying much attention, Lucius threw himself into a chair angrily. Mink had finished cleaning Draco and applying potions and left silently. Draco turned to his father

"It was not my fault, they provoked me" He said

"You idiot! You should not have reacted! Do you not understand that I cannot constantly cover up for you?"

Draco buried his face in his hands

"I didn't mean to, I was just having a drink, and I saw her, if her friends had stayed away…"

"You would have had your way with her!?"

"Well I didn't! Did I? Her stupid friends came over, they insulted the family name and my integrity! So I called them filthy little mudbloods and then…watchmen, everywhere. I apparated as soon as I could"

"You should not have reacted! We are not free to discuss blood status like that openly anymore. You should have left the girl be and moved on!"

"You once told me that Malfoy's always get what they want! I think you've gone soft old man! And don't think that I didn't notice you've got yourself a little whore too!"

Lucius narrowed his eyes and gripped the arm of his seat tightly for a moment, so that he could compose himself once more.

"That is different" he said, anger still pulsing through his veins "If you intend on staying I suggest you go to your room, before I cause you some damaged a few potions won't be able to fix"

For a few moments Draco stayed put, challenging Lucius, pushing him to react. He knew his father had a temper, he had witnessed his father's rages his whole life, and he had never seen him look as dangerous as he did at that moment. He rose slowly from the chair and walked carefully to his room. His room was exactly as he had left it before he went travelling, a picture of his mother was on his bedside table, he picked it up and thought about how unexpected it was when he found out that she was leaving. He had heard them arguing for hours that night and then a door slammed, he assumed correctly that his father had stormed into the study, he heard his mother rush upstairs. She burst into his room, crying

"I am leaving your father, this is too much"

Draco had pleaded with her to stay, trying to convince her that Lucius would no longer be in a mood in the morning

"It is my decision to leave, not his" she told him "Help me pack"

Draco silently had helped his mother pack all of her things into a few trunks, he watched as she boarded the Knight bus. Draco had been furious at his father for letting her leave, even after receiving an owl from her telling him not to be. Draco only had the one picture of her, in a fit of rage, Lucius had destroyed all of the other ones in the manor, he had never shown any remorse for doing so and Draco never dared to ask him about it. Draco's mind turned towards the girl that had been with his father, he was sure that he recognised her from somewhere, her eyes were so familiar, she looked young, no older than himself, come to think of it, he was sure that he had seen her at school. Yes, he had seen her at school, he was sure of it, he'd seen her in the common room a few times. She was quiet so he never paid much attention to her.

Lucius remained in the drawing room, furious that his son had had the nerve to question him about Ebony in such a way, he was trying to calm down, knowing his rages often lasted days, he didn't want Ebony to see him in such a state. He breathed deeply and slowly, staring at the unlit fireplace for an hour before going upstairs. He heard music as he passed Ebony's room, he looked in, thinking that she was still awake, instead he realised that she had fallen asleep with the radio on, he turned it off and looked at Ebony. She was breathing lightly, one of her brown curls had fallen across her face, she looked so calm and at ease. Lucius sat himself in the armchair and watched her sleep, eventually falling asleep in the armchair.

Ebony awoke feeling refreshed the next morning, she stretched her arms and legs then sat up. She turned and noticed that Lucius was fast asleep in the armchair with is head resting against the side, he was snoring softly and his hair lay messily across his face, he was still fully dressed. Ebony decided whether or not to wake him, she decided to get changed first. She had pulled a black cotton dress over her head and went back to her bedroom, Lucius had not stirred and was still sleeping happily. Ebony sat opposite him on her bed for a while, Lucius groaned in his sleep and turned to face the other way, he groaned once more and his eyes flickered open

"Wakey, wakey sleeping beauty" whispered Ebony

Lucius flashed her a small smile

"Was I there all night?" he asked

"When I fell asleep you weren't there, but you were when I woke up, so I assume so, why were you there in the first place anyway?"

"I turned your radio off, and sat down to, well, watch you sleep"

Ebony raised an eyebrow at him

"You looked so calm, it was quite sweet really"

Ebony laughed

"Draco had angered me last night, watching you helped calm me down" he said honestly

"Oh"

"He acted stupidly and attracted the attention of watchmen"

"Do you think they'll come here?"

"No, no, from the sounds of it, they were looking to find someone doing something"

Breakfast was a quiet affair neither Draco nor Lucius would look at each other, as if both were ashamed of what had what had been said the night before, Lucius had got up to leave the table when Draco finally spoke

"You were right" he said, "I apologise for what I said last night"

"Very well, let us hope that words like that do not leave your mouth again"

Lucius went into his study and Ebony went to the library, she went through her pile of books, trying to find something to read. She settled on the book called 'The portrait of Dorian Gray'. She had loved the book from the moment she read it over a year ago. Ebony had curled up and was lost in the book completely when Draco had entered the library and sat on the sofa with her

"What's that?" he asked

"A book" she said, "it's good"

"Really?"

"Oh yes, I've been in Love with this story since I first read it"

Draco just looked blankly

"Here" Ebony said, thrusting the book into his hands "Read it yourself, it's very good"

"But, I thought you were reading it?"

"I've read it before, so many times, you should read it"

She got up from the sofa and walked to the door, she turned around and saw Draco was still just holding the book

"Trust me. It's good. Read it" she said before leaving.

Ebony wandered off to the study, Lucius looked as if he had been expecting her, she sat in the chair opposite him

"Not much to do today?" she asked

"Not really, I have an RSPV to write, I've been invited to a charity dinner next week, what do you think of it?"

"You should go, it will be good for you"

"You're sure of that?"

"Yes"

"And, you'll be okay without me"

"Go!"

"Okay, yes, I will go then"

Lucius hurriedly wrote out an RSPV and sent it then proceeded to read over a report on Goblin liaisons that he had to finish. Ebony was bored and had started to levitate objects on Lucius' desk. She had a stick of envelope wax hovering in front of her eyes, spinning slowly when Lucius distracted her

"Ebony, Ebony! I need that" He said

She had not noticed how it had kept moving out of his reach whenever he went to grab it

"Oh, sorry" she said and let it drop into his hand.

There was still tension between the two Malfoy men that evening, conversation was very forced, eventually they retired to the drawing room and Lucius summoned a bottle of firewhiskey.

"Have you seen your mother recently" Lucius asked coldly

"Yes, I stayed with her last week" Draco replied

"Is she well"

"She's doing great considering she's had to take a job at a muggle shop, she has a boyfriend too, his name is Patrick" Draco was trying to antagonise his father

Lucius nodded and asked nothing more of Narcissa. They drank in silence for a while, Lucius topped up anyone's glass when it seemed to be empty, once the first bottle was finished, the conversation went more naturally, Draco was talking about all of the places that he had been and girls that he had met. Ebony could feel herself getting drunk.

"You know what" She said "I'm gonna go to bed, before I get paralytic"

"Stay for one more drink!" Lucius said

"No, I don't think I should"

"But you must"

"FINE! One more, and that's it, I'm off"

Ebony downed her final drink in one go and stood up, Lucius stood up too. He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her close to him, she was rigid with shock

"Good night" he said

"Good night, Lucius" She said back to him before going upstairs to change into a night gown and get into bed.


	13. The hangover

**AN: was only planning to do one chapter today, but I really wanted to write this one so nerrr. R&R very please! Enjoyyy**

Ebony lay in bed, feeling slightly dizzy from the drinking, she giggled to herself a bit, hoping to sober up, she was not comfortable feeling that drunk. She rolled onto one side and closed her eyes, she let herself fall into a light sleep, listening to the two Malfoy men chatting downstairs. She never noticed when the chatting had stopped and her door had creaked open, what stirred her was the stench of firewhiskey and then the sensation of someone curled up behind her, nuzzling the back of her neck. Ebony rolled over and was facing Lucius, their noses almost touching

"You're drunk" she accused

"Only a little bit"

"You smell like a brewery!"

Lucius gave her a silly little grin that made him look as if someone had just used obliviate on him

"You're really quite pretty" he murmured before nuzzling himself into Ebony's chest and falling into a deep, alcohol induced, sleep. Ebony had grabbed a lock of his hair and had started twisting it around her fingers until she too fell asleep.

Ebony arose first the next morning, she had left Lucius out cold on her bed, cursing him for the disturbed sleep that he had caused her. She was feeling slightly hungover so had gone to find Mink to see if there were any potion ingredients about, she was lucky in her quest for potion ingredients, there was a large store of them in Malfoy manor. Ebony had always been intuitive with making potions and she already had a reliable recipe for hangovers. Making the potion was simple enough, she had designed it that way, all she had to do was throw in the ingredients, mix them up and let them simmer for 15 minutes. Once the potion was ready, Ebony bottled it up and took a mouthful, it worked quickly and her hangover had almost completely gone. She had been sitting quietly in the dining room, eating some toast when Lucius stumbled into the room and threw himself violently into a seat. He grabbed his head and glared at Ebony, resenting that she appeared to be fine when he was suffering.

"Don't look at me like that, I didn't make you drink so much last night" she said matter-of-factly

"I will look at you how I want to, you are mine" He snarled back

Ebony went back to her toast, annoyed by what Lucius had just said, she looked over to him, glad that he had a hangover, he was massaging his temples. Ebony was watching him intently, scrutinising everything that he did

"Why aren't you suffering like I am?" Lucius snarled

Ebony pushed the bottled potion towards him

"One mouthful will do the job, maybe 2 in your case" she said to him

Lucius snatched the bottle, possessively and gulped down 2 mouthfuls of it, he grimaced as he did

"That tasted disgusting, get it out of my sight" He spat

"Are you always such a foul git when you're hungover?" She asked Lucius in a mean sort of way

Lucius looked up at her and made a sort of growling noise then went back to massaging his temples.

It took a long time for the potion to have any effect on Lucius, Ebony thought it was probably because he had drank so much, she was relieved when Draco walked into the room, Lucius noticed him and snarled. Draco laughed

"The old man can't take a drink anymore" He goaded Lucius

Lucius snarled at him again

"Don't be like that, either of you!" Ebony pleaded "The potion should be beginning to work, you won't be suffering much longer, ok?"

Lucius said nothing, he just glared, Draco was tucking into a plate of bacon and toast, seeming to have had no ill effects from the alcohol at all. Half an hour later Lucius had staggered off to his study, Ebony followed him. Lucius still had a foul look across his face, he sat down, taking ver little notice of what Ebony was doing. Ebony was standing behind him, she reached out and gently began to massage his temples and forehead

"You're not doing any work until you are feeling nicer" she told him

Lucius grunted in reply, Ebony took this as him agreeing with her and continued the massage. Eventually Lucius had started to feel good again

"You can stop" he told Ebony.

She did as he said then sat in the chair opposite him

"You slept in my bed last night" she said

"I know, I remember, you said I smelt bad"

"Well, yeah, you did a bit"

"It was nice"

"Me saying you smelt bad?"

"No, sleeping in your bed. I was half expecting you to throw me out"

"It crossed my mind, with you smelling like you did"

Lucius ignored that remark

"I thought, maybe, it could be a more permanent situation" he said

"Umm, well, if you don't always sleep smelling so bad, then I don't see why not" Ebony said after contemplating the situation

"Good" Lucius said

Ebony spent the whole afternoon just watching Lucius. He was writing up a report on a case of underage magic. Her eyes lingered on his lips momentarily, but it was long enough for Lucius to become aware that she had stopped over them. He knew that he wanted to do something with them, and he had the feeling that she did too, he met her gaze for a second then went back to writing up the report. Ebony sighed, she knew that the potion had some side effects, but she had never experienced it causing her to want to have physical contact with anyone before, and that's what she wanted. She wanted to lean over the desk, Grab Lucius and kiss him, the thought occupied her mind, she wanted nothing more than to taste him. Ebony wondered what would happen if she were to use accio on a piece of his clothing, would it pull him towards her with it? Or would it simply rip off of him? She wondered if it was possible to use accio on a human. Lucius was too busy working to notice if she had her wand out, she was certain that she could do the spell non-verbally

'Accio Lucius' she thought

Nothing happened

'Accio!'

Still nothing happened

After the 4th try, Ebony had started to get frustrated, her attempts at summoning Lucius over the desk were getting more violent

"What on earth are you trying to do?" He asked in a condescending way

"I was trying to summon…something" She replied

"What were you trying to summon?"

"It doesn't matter, it didn't work" Ebony said sulkily

"No, I think it does matter, come here and tell me"

Ebony walked around the desk to Lucius, he pulled her onto his lap

"Is this any better?" he asked before she had said a word

"You knew!" she said

Lucius nodded slyly and pulled her chin closer to him, Ebony had a hand around the back of his neck as he planted his lips firmly onto hers and slowly pushed his tongue inside of her mouth, after a few intense moments, they pulled away slowly

"That is what you wanted, wasn't it?" he asked

" Yes, that was exactly what I wanted".

Ebony had decided to go for a walk outside, she was feeling flushed and was thankful for the cool air, Draco, too was outside, when he saw Ebony, he looked at her suspiciously

"Your lipstick is smudged" He said

"Yes, I suppose it is" Ebony said softly "I hadn't bothered to check"

Draco gave her another suspicious look

"Have you started to read that book?" Ebony asked him

"A few pages"

"Give it a chance, I'm sure you will like it"

"What makes you think that?"

"Just a hunch" Ebony said dreamily before sitting down on the grass and looking up at the sky.

It was a very cold night that night, Ebony was glad that she said Lucius could share her bed, she was freezing, and was sure that he would spend the night nuzzled up against her again, he no longer smelt of firewhiskey, but he smelt spicy instead, it smelt pleasant to Ebony, who had took a lock of his hair to twist in her fingers again. Lucius pulled her as close to him as possible and watched as she fell asleep. He brushed her hair away from her face and kissed her forehead before letting himself sleep. They both slept comfortably and undisturbed as if the sleeping arrangement had been like it was forever.


	14. Mistakes of men

**AN: Woop! another favourite! No more reviews though ): so please please review, it will make me very happy! I'm mainly going by the books, but, I love the cane so much I bought it into my story! I have given the upcomming chapters a nickname 'the interludes' and I think they shall be set out slightly different to the rest of the story. Please R&R and Enjoy!!**

The Day of the charity dinner arrived, Ebony took it as a chance to fuss over Lucius. She had picked out an outfit for him to wear and had even tried to give him a cheering potion to make sure that he would be in a good mood. Lucius stood in front of a mirror, examining his appearance

"Are you sure this isn't too much?" He asked her nervously

"I am sure, so stop fidgeting and let me do your tie" Ebony replied

Ebony tied his tie with a medium sized knot and fastened on an emerald encrusted tie pin, then proceeded to ties his hair back at the base of his neck with a black ribbon.

"You should use your cane" Ebony said

"I'm not sure"

"But, you had Mr Ollivander make the adjustments for your new wand on it and all that! I haven't seen you with it once since I've got here" Ebony protested

"Okay! Fine! I'll use it"

Lucius walked to the corner and picked up his discarded cane, he slotted his new wand inside of it, it felt good in his hands, as if it had never left them in fact. Ebony walked with him to the front door

"You look dashing" She told him

Lucius kissed her on the forehead, before turning around and leaving.

Ebony went down for dinner, and ate quickly. She went into the unused room that she often sat in and watched the sky through the window. It was a cloudy night, yet she stayed there watching, until quarter to midnight. Ebony hopped out of the chair and went into her dressing room to get changed. She had pulled on a night gown and was sitting at the vanity table stroking the necklace that Lucius had given to her, she was lost in her own menial thoughts, wondering whether or not Lucius would be back soon, she hoped so. Ebony had started to brush her hair, counting each stroke in her head. Draco sauntered into the room; Ebony turned to look at him and stood up.

"So, what is going on between you and my father?" He asked

"I do not feel as if it is my place to say" Ebony whispered "Maybe you should ask him yourself"

"But, I have asked him, he will not say!"

"Oh"

"Yes, so I want you to tell me why you are here"

"What do you mean?"

"Is it for the status, or the money?" Draco asked suspiciously "You see, you're not the first to try and get with father, plenty of girls have in the past, wanting a bit of the Malfoy fortune"

"I don't want his money"

"So, I suppose you bought that necklace yourself, did you?" Draco sneered

"It was a gift!" Ebony protested

"You know, father may have gone soft since the battle, but, I haven't. I think it's time you learnt what it's really like to be with a Malfoy"

Draco pushed Ebony up against a wall and started to force angry, violent kisses down her body, Ebony turned her head away from him but Draco pulled her chin back so that she would look at him and started over with the violent kisses. Draco bit her neck and drew blood from her. Ebony closed her eyes and tried to escape what was happening; she heard a zipper being pulled

'Take me away, take me away' She pleaded with her mind

She wanted him to leave her alone, to be finished, to go away, she felt too weak to fight back, she just wanted him to get it over with so that she could collapse and try to forget.

CRACK

A deafening sound reverberated throughout the room; Ebony opened her eyes and saw Draco lying on the floor, curled up, Lucius towering over him, brandishing his cane.

"Get out of my sight!" He bellowed at his son

Draco slowly stood up and staggered out of the room

Lucius turned towards Ebony and pinned her back up against the wall, he was breathing heavily, his eyes cold, and unforgiving. He grabbed the necklace from her neck

"Did you not understand what this means?" He snarled

Ebony was shaking and sobbing

"It means you are mine," he said "Mine and nobody else's" He finished in a dangerous shout that filled the room, He let go of Ebony and she collapsed to the floor, sobbing

"I cannot stand to look at you" Lucius said as he left the room.

Ebony cried and screamed and bashed her head against the wall for an hour before coming to her senses. She sat in front of the mirror, wand out, trying to transfigure herself, she managed to make her hair longer and straighter and her nose narrower, but, she had never been good at transfiguration, she sighed realising that it was the best she could do and packed herself a bag full of clothes. Ebony removed her necklace and left it on the vanity table before making her way to the front door. She wondered if she was doing the right thing, but upon replaying Lucius' final words in her head she decided that it would be best if she left Malfoy manor. She made no noise whilst leaving. Ebony had walked for a mile and was standing in a dark street. She stuck out her hand and the knight bus was summoned.

Ebony sat herself on the bed closest to where Stan was sitting with the driver

"Wha'choo doing out so late?" Stan asked her

"Something happened, and I had to leave"

"Ain'choo that girl that was goin to Malfoy Manor that time? I told you e' was bad news di'nt I?"

"No, I'm not that girl" Ebony lied

"Come to think of it, yeah, she had shorter, curly hair" Stan mused

"well anyway, ya in for a long night, the bus is full, I don't suspect you'll be arriving until 5 in the morning.. wha'choo think Ern?"

Earnie, the driver turned to Stan

"Yeah, long journey" he agreed

Ebony tried to get some sleep, but, it was very difficult, with the Knight bus jolting about all over the place, it kept waking her up. Eventually she gave up trying to sleep and picked up a copy of the daily prophet and read through it.

"Someone attacked some watchmen?" She exclaimed

"Oh yeah, some girl they reckon" Stan said "Mind, I'd like to give a good kicking to them watchmen sometimes, 3 times this weeks they've been on board to spy"

Ebony laughed

"I don't suppose people like going out with them breathing down their necks all the time"

"yeah, suppose that's it, innit. The ministry aint getting rid of them so the people are doing it themselves"

It had just gone 5 in the morning when Ebony stepped off of the Knight bus, she was glad to see lights on at the leaky cauldron, Tom was standing at the bar wearing a night shirt

"How can I help you?" He asked

"Well, I need a room, I don't know how long for, I can pay, but, I need one until I can find my own place"

"Very well miss, it's a bit of a strange situation, but if you can pay… I'll need to take your name down"

"Smith" Ebony said "Sarah Smith"

"Well then Miss Smith, you'll be room 11" Tom said as he handed her the key to room 11 "it's up the stairs and to the left".

Ebony went up to her room and finally went to sleep, she was exhausted and slept dreamlessly for hours, not stirring until the afternoon.


	15. Ebony

**AN: This is the first of the interludes, I will try to make the next few longer, although, with the way I plan on doing them, I'm not sure if it will work, but, theres only one way to find out! as always please read and review! and enjoy!!**

_'She wakes up every day to the same routine, she washes, and gets dressed then goes down for a quick breakfast. She goes back to her room and collects her bag, then ventures off to muggle London. She has a muggle job too, she works in a bar, She got the job unusually quickly. She found it the day after arriving at the leaky cauldron. She uses a false name, reasons unknown, orders from the minister- 'Keep a very close eye on her'_

Lucius looked over the report, it had been 10 days since she had left, 10, long and painful days. Once he had come out of his rage, he went to find Draco, he should have known all along, he knew what Draco was like; Suspicious with little self control over matters of the flesh. He had to beat the confession out of him, of course by then, she had already left. He remembered his son lying on the floor, bloody and bruised. Blood was seeping from his mouth, so swollen that he could barely say all that Lucius needed to hear

"She didn't do anything, it was all my fault, I didn't realise".

Lucius had then bribed and blackmailed his way into getting all reports made on her actions since leaving, he spent hours pouring over them, he knew where she was. He was also sure that she wouldn't want to see him. Draco didn't dare come anywhere near his father, every time he had tried ended in violence.

The darkness within Lucius seemed to seep into the manor, covering every corner of it and every item within, he spent most days in silence, filled with regret and self-loathing. He had uncovered his piano and started to play again, his hands had not touched those keys in such a long time. He played furiously, every song that he knew she liked, it hurt him to be reminded of her so much; he didn't care, he deserved the pain, he wanted the pain. He forced himself to stand in her room, sleep in her bed, to remember how it felt when she was in it to. All he wanted was pain. He spent nights howling at the moon like a love sick werewolf, that was when he hurt the most, looking at the moon, that's where they were closest. And through all that he was feeling, Lucius didn't blame her, of course he didn't. He had written many letters, all screwed up and in a bin, telling her how he was sorry. He never sent them, he didn't deserve forgiveness. He forced himself to look in the mirror, he thought that he looked like a monster, he felt like one.

Draco had watched his father go through this torment, he had been wrong and had never felt such remorse for his actions, in the past he had goaded his father into rages, relishing in it, but, this was different. He wanted to make things right, he was going to find Ebony and bring her back, somehow.


	16. Dealing

**AN:So...Second of the interludes, for a bit of fun, 50 points each to whoever can guess correctly why I have called these chapters so and also to anyone who can correctly guess why the story is called so! anyway, please read and review, and as always enjoy!**

Ebony had rushed off to her day shift at the bar, she had slept in and was running late. She skipped breakfast, hoping that doing so meant that she wouldn't be too late. Ebony preferred the day shifts, the bar wasn't busy during the day, so she could easily tell if she was being watched. Ebony got to work half an hour late, luckily, her supervisor also appeared to be late. She went to the back room and dumped her bag in her locker.

"Sarah" Someone called, Ebony ignored it

"Sarah " They called again, Ebony was not yet used to people calling her by her false name.

"Oh, Hi Jake" she said sleepily

Jake smiled at her kindly

"Still not sleeping well?" He asked

Ebony shook her head, Jake put one of his lean, tanned arms around her and Ebony flinched. Jake sighed and removed his arm.

Ebony had started to clean the tables when there was a customer. Ebony went to the bar where they were waiting.

"What can I get for you?" she asked

"Just a Firewhiskey" the man said quickly

"We don't have that" Ebony replied, casting a suspicious look over the man

"No, No, of course you don't" He said gruffly "I'll have some rum then"

Ebony would have put the man in his 50's at least, he was rather rugged looking, somewhat familiar. She was certain that he was not one of the aurors that had been watching her since she had been working at the bar, but he seemed very familiar. She poured him a glass of Rum then went back to cleaning the tables. At midday, her boss arrived.

"Slow morning then?" He said

"Yeah" Ebony replied

"Where's Jake?"

"Changing the barrels, I think"

"Good"

Ebony was behind the bar, bored, it was a very slow day and she was so tired, the rugged man from earlier had not left the bar and repeatedly ordered glasses of rum. Jake had finally come up to the bar and joined her.

"Very slow day" He mused

"Yes, it is" Ebony agreed

"Is the flat hunt coming anywhere?" He asked her

"No not really" Ebony said, knowing that she hadn't looked at all.

It seemed as if Ebony did not want to leave the leaky cauldron, she did not want to live as a muggle, to live as a muggle would be to lose her last connection to Lucius, something that a part of her would not let go of. She hated to believe it, but she still had a part of her that cared about the man, a part of her that truly was his. That was the part of her that kept her awake all night, that forced tears from her when she looked up at the moon. Ebony rued this part of her, she despised it, and she hated that it seemed to be growing with each day.

She hadn't told Jake much about Lucius, but he knew that Lucius was the cause of her troubles, Jake was very intuitive to how people were feeling. And had often tried to get Ebony to talk about this man, but she never would.

"Did you Love him" He would ask, hoping to catch her off guard, Ebony would never say a word in reply, in fact, whenever Jake tried to make conversation about any possible man in her life, she wouldn't reply. Jake thought that she probably had Loved this man, and, from what he saw, she still did.


	17. Here comes the crescendo

**AN: 3rd of 'the interludes' the past few have been quite short, but I am quite sure that the final pair will be longer. Huzzah! I got another review and favourite! THANK YOUUU! You're a star! also, I haven't been able to view my stats graphs ): so I dunno how many people have actually read this, so if you have, you are also a star! as always, please R&R it's all very appreciated and enjoy!!**

_'She continues to use a false name, it is not obvious yet if anyone suspects that her identity is false. She continues to work at the bar and is still staying at the leaky cauldron. We wish to also watch over another employee at the bar 'Jake Davids' A Muggle whom she seems to be rather friendly with'_

Lucius' insides burnt up reading the last sentence, a mix of emotions coming over him. Jealousy towards the muggle, Anger towards himself, Regret for what he had done. He wanted this 'Jake Davids' dead, but murdering the boy would not do him any good in the long run. Lucius had been drinking, he had been drinking a lot, he carried a bottle of firewhiskey almost everywhere with him, he had found, during the times that he was drunk that sometimes his memories were so vivid, it was almost like she was there beside him again.

He walked over to the piano and forcefully sat himself down, he stroked one of the keys then started to play, taking command of the instrument, forcing it to make beautiful sounds, even in his drunken state. His pain passed from his soul into the music. The crescendo cascaded throughout the instrument. Every note screamed out in pain, anger and regret. Lucius' hands moved furiously across the keys for hours, performing his lament openly and unashamed. He played long into the night, not caring to sleep or even eat, all he could think to do was play.

"Father" Draco said from the doorway

Lucius ignored him

"I think you should try to sleep" Draco continued

Lucius kept playing

"Dying from exhaustion and alcohol poisoning isn't going to bring her back!" Draco shouted

Still, Lucius played on

"I've seen her, you know, heard her talk"

The music didn't falter

"I've been going to the bar, disguised, listened to her conversations with that muggle boy"

Lucius played more furiously

"He wants her, he wants her so bad, but, she won't give in…He tries to get her to talk about you, he fails most of the time."

The music slowed a bit

" 'He was everything to me' That's what she said"

The music slowed even more

"You should have heard her! It's obvious that you still are everything to her!"

Lucius no longer wanted to hear what Draco had to say and continued to play once more.

"I'm going to find her" Draco said, "I'm going to bring her back"

Draco left the room, slamming the door behind him, frustrated with Lucius' distance from the situation.


	18. A change of surroundings

**AN: finally managed to write the 4th interlude...after a 25 hour battle to rid my pc of a virus! Eep! the next pair *should* be the last, depending on how elastic my timeline gets of course LOL so anyway...please R&R, special thanks to Amy, who gets a cameo and has read the story from the start! and enjoy!!!**

"Tell me about him" Jake said

Ebony shrugged

"Look, I know it hurts to think of him, but, talking will help that"

"He…He was everything to me" She eventually said in measured tones.

There was a 'Smashing' sound, the lady sitting at the bar had dropped her glass and was apologising profusely

"It's nothing" Ebony assured her "It happens all the time, honestly"

The lady had left and the bar was almost empty, it was one of the rare occasions that Ebony did a night shift. It had been her inability to sleep that made her decide to take night shifts sometimes, she hated lying awake at night, being alone, at least if she was working, she wasn't alone.

It had been a long shift on a busy night, the bar was crowded, Draco had not come in disguise that night, he had dressed in a dark suit and stood, leaning on a wall, waiting. A group of girls were watching him, giggling amongst themselves, he didn't pay much attention to them, he kept his focus on the barmaid, she had been talking to another girl, then turned to her co worker, she was leaving, it was a perfect chance to catch up with her. Draco made his way purposefully across the floor, he had to get to her. The girls had started to giggle even more so

"Ooooh Amy! He's coming this way! Go talk to him"

The girl called Amy walked purposefully over to Draco, she grabbed him by the sleeve

"Dance?" she asked him, and flung her arms around his neck, Draco looked at her and said curtly

"Sorry, I am meant to be meeting someone else"

He looked back over her shoulder, he could no longer see the barmaid anywhere, he swore under his breath, the girl was still looking up at him

"You should go back to your friends" He told her before leaving.

Ebony was sitting in a small coffee shop with another woman

"Lucky you were able to get off early" She said

"Yes, it was" Ebony agreed

"Why did that man call you Sarah though?" she asked

"It's a long story, Sasha"

"I'd imagine so, Alyss told me about your 'meeting'" Sasha said

"She told you?!"

"Honestly babes, how could you expect her not to! You go missing then turn up with Lucius Malfoy! Of all people"

"Yeah, I know" Ebony said softly

"And now, I find you working in a bar, when Jasper told me, I couldn't believe it, I mean…gosh!"

"How did Jasper know?" Ebony asked

"He works at the ministry, remember, part of the auror department, God! Aurors have been watching you, He came personally a while back!"

"OHH!" Ebony moaned "I remember! He doesn't disguise himself well! I thought he looked familiar, then he asked for a firewhiskey!"

"He told me about that" Sasha said with a laugh "and he didn't disguise himself, you've only met once, he didn't think you'd recognise him"

"I see" Ebony said and drank some of her coffee

"You still at the leaky cauldron?" Sasha asked

"Yeah, I am"

"No, you should come stay with me, I insist., I shall have your things delivered to mine by the morning, you will come tonight. You really look like you could do with a proper sleep on a proper bed anyhow."

They entered Sasha's house through the kitchen, Ebony stopped and looked over a boiling cauldron

"Polyjuice potion?" She asked

"Jaspers, for work" Sasha said quickly then proceeded to lead Ebony to the guestroom. Ebony tried to sleep that night, she tried so hard, and failed, she could not sleep in this bed, not at all, it reminded her too much of her bed at Malfoy manor for her to sleep easily.


	19. Antagonising

**AN: so yaah, on the last update I said the next pair would be the last...I meant of the interludes, not the story! just thought I'd make it clear, cos it would have confused me to read that! Thanks everyone for reading this far! please R&R and enjoy!**

_'Was last seen leaving her workplace with school friend 'Sasha Simms'- wife of 'Jasper Simms' of the auror department'_

_'She has not been seen at her workplace recently, all her belongings have been taken from the leaky cauldron'_

_'Report from Simms- she was brought by his wife to their house where she is now staying, this is not an ideal situation, however it allows for her to be monitored closely'_

_'She refuses to talk of anything before she arrived at the leaky cauldron, she has finally transfigured herself to how she was, this took a lot of encouragement for her to agree to do'_

Draco had found a pile of reports on his father's desk, unopened. He had carefully read and re-read all of them, highlighting the passages that he thought would be useful. He had returned to the bar every night, hoping to find her there, he now knew that she had not gone back, he now knew where she was. Loud, sand and angry music pushed onwards throughout the manor, Draco knew that it was unlikely to stop for hours. Draco was fed up of the music, it angered him, and everything about what it was and what it represented made his blood boil. The way his father separated himself from reality whilst he played and drowned himself in it's sorrows- Draco hated it all.

Draco had put the reports into a large, old, leather bound notebook. He carried the notebook to the drawing room where his father stayed hunched over the piano. He slammed the book onto the piano with a loud 'thud'. Draco realised almost immediately that he should not have done it. A look of rage came over Lucius' face, he sprang up from the piano and grabbed the notebook in one hand and let out an almighty scream. Draco had retreated to the doorway, out of Lucius' reach, however, he was not fast enough to duck when the notebook came hurtling towards him, hitting him with such force his nose cracked on contact. Draco tried his best to fix it, but, he had never excelled with medical spells. His nose was no longer broken, but it was not straight as it had once been. He glared at Lucius from where he was standing.

"What was that for?" He asked

Lucius had gone back to playing the piano, a melancholy song emitted from the keys, filling the manor with music once more

"I don't know why I'm bothering with this" Draco said "You haven't even bothered to read about her! It's like you don't even care what's happening to her anymore"

Lucius shot up once more and made his way over to Draco

"Don't you dare say that" He snarled at him

"Say what? That you're acting like you don't care about her!"

"Shut up!"

"Why should I? All you do now is drink and play that piano! Like you don't care about anything anymore"

"You're wrong!" Lucius shouted

It was Lucius who stormed from the room, he stood in Ebony's dressing room, looking around, then sat himself at the vanity table, where the necklace was. He picked it up and turned it through his fingers, watching as the light bounced off of it and hit it in different ways. He thought of the day that he had given It to her, how he had snapped when she tried to refuse it, how he had told her in such a forceful way that she was special to him. It hurt him to think of how much he cared about her. If he had been brought up differently, Lucius would have shed many tears by then, but no, He was Lucius Malfoy, and Lucius Malfoy does not cry. He wondered if she was happy wherever she was, He wondered whether she thought about him anymore, he supposed that she did, if what Draco had said about seeing her at the bar was true.

Draco was left standing at the doorway of the drawing room, he knew that Lucius still cared about her, of course he did. He just wanted to get some reaction from his father, something that would mean it'd be worth finding her. He sighed and picked up the notebook, he knew where she was, he just had to get there and make her hear him out.


	20. Ivory

**AN:So last of 'the interludes' Huzzah! I myself will be taking a short interlude from writing this due to the need of a new computer, However, I WILL be back, stay tuned for something big ;) special thanks go to XxPanda-babiixX for her 2 reviews! as always Please R&R it's all very appreciated and most importantly..enjoy!**

Ebony had become very quiet since moving in with Sasha and Jasper. Jasper had been keeping an annoyingly close watch over her, silently analysing everything that she did. Often trying to get her to talk about where she had been before, it was when he asked such questions when she was quietest, she didn't like to talk about Lucius, those memories hurt too much. Her silence annoyed Jasper very much and soon Sasha had begun to ask her questions too.

Alyss visited a few times, although, never to see Ebony. Alyss and Sasha would go off to an empty room and talk frantically in hushed voices. Ebony occasionally heard odd bits of their conversations.

"About…him?" Alyss asked

"Nothing" Sasha replied

"Still? God…"

"You know, we can do it without him."

At first such conversations seemed weird to Ebony, but, she grew used to them, knowing that Alyss was probably still in a mood with her and how Jasper liked to control Sasha, it'd be easier for them to talk alone. Ebony was quite sure that Jasper did not like Alyss as after almost every visit he would take Sasha aside and talk to her quite severely.

Ebony still wasn't sleeping properly, she'd be awake for days at a time, only sleeping when her body could take being awake no longer. The nights she spent awake were torture, she sat alone, in the silence. She had been in silence for so long, she didn't listen to music anymore, she couldn't bare to. She tried not to think either, thinking almost broke the silence and she relished in the silence. During such silences she could convince herself that she was dead, that she was free from what had happened, then her mind would come to Lucius and she would remember. Part of her yearned to be close to him, to hold him tight, this part of her now was the biggest part. Only a small morsel of her spirit kept her from going back.

"You loved him, didn't you" Sasha said one day

Ebony looked up at her

"What about you? Do you Love Jasper?"

"Yes" Sasha said "I have for a while now, you see, it wasn't an arranged marriage as people were lead to believe…"

"What?"

"Jasper is a friend of my fathers….we met at a dinner party, it was Love at first sight. Father wasn't happy, but agreed to play along, Jasper feared what people might think had it not been an arranged marriage you see"

"Oh"

"Yes, so, I am very much in Love with him, I'd do anything for him, he's my life"

"That's good" Ebony said

"He really is everything to me"

"Yes, I understand how that feels….all too well" Ebony sighed

And then she saw it, or at least she thought she did, a sudden pained, almost guilty look flashed across Sasha's face.

"So, I guess it's hard for you…this" Sasha said in a strange way

"Yes, it is quite hard, had you not come for me, I would have gone mad" Ebony finally admitted.

There it was again, that pained, almost guilty look on Sasha's face, it lingered only a second, but Ebony definitely saw it that time.

"I'm sorry for trying to make you talk about it…I never thought.." Sasha said quietly before leaving the room.

That night Ebony did not sleep, she just lay there on the bed, she heard Jasper and Sasha fighting in their room

"I don't want to do it!" Sasha had exclaimed

"You said you Loved me! That means you do it whether you like it or not"

"Maybe there is another way? Something else?"

"No! It has to be this! You promised" Jasper growled

Ebony did not want to listen to how the fight played out, she cast a spell so that she wouldn't hear and spent the rest of the night in the silence, looking out of the window. There was a shooting star, it flashed across the sky and Ebony made a wish, she made a wish with everything she had, straining herself to make sure her wish reached the star in time.

The cold night turned into a cold morning, frost coated everything in sight, Ebony sat silently in the living room, Sasha watched her with sad eyes, Jasper had gone to work early that day. A draught came through the house and Ebony pulled her jumper tight around her. It was Ebony who noticed the sound first, footsteps on the gravel outside, getting faster and more frantic until they stopped at the door. There came 3 sharp knocks

"I'll get that" said Sasha who dashed to the hallway

Ebony heard her open the door and gasp

"She won't want to see you" Sasha said in a warning tone

"It's about my father" The person at the door pleaded

Ebony recognised that voice

"Draco" she gasped to herself

"Please! I must talk to her" He pleaded once more

Sasha considered him for a few seconds

"Okay, come in, be quick" she said

Draco had rushed into the living room and turned to Ebony

"You must come back" He pleaded with her

"Why should I?" Ebony half shouted at him

"Father needs you"

Ebony looked away

"He doesn't need me" She said softly

"Are you blind? Couldn't you see that he Loves you!" Draco shouted

Ebony was shocked and said nothing

"All he does now is drink and play piano…all day it's songs by that muggle composer that you like so much….and the drinking! If he carries on that way, he'll be dead in no time"

Ebony still said nothing

"Please, come back…even if it's just to see him! I promise I will not force you to stay if you decide to leave after, just go to him, look at him…Please" Draco begged

Ebony nodded

"Okay" she agreed

"We must apparate" Draco said "Quickly"

Ebony stood up and looked at Sasha

"You must go" Sasha said "Please, be safe, be careful"

Ebony nodded once before rushing off after Draco so that they could apparate to Malfoy Manor.

Ebony had stepped into Malfoy Manor hesitantly, it hit her almost immediately, she recognised the song, it was her favourite 'Fantaisie-impromptu' She had heard it played many times before, but never had she heard it filled with such sadness. Each note ran through her body as she made her way to the drawing room, and there he was. Hunched over the piano, playing furiously, playing beautifully. Ebony stood there, a meter from him, tears streaming down her cheeks, he played with that much passion. The music stopped and in the brief interlude he would have taken between songs, he caught the sound of a sob. Lucius turned from the piano.

"You play beautifully" Ebony said

Lucius arose from the seat and walked towards her, he reached out with one hand and stopped shy of her cheek.

"Please tell me you are more than a cruel hallucination" He whispered

Ebony took hold of his hand and held it to her heart

"Would a hallucination have a heartbeat?" She said

Lucius shook his head silently

"If you are no hallucination, what are you?" He asked

"I am Ebony, I am your Ebony" she said

Lucius examined her face closely and stopped at her eyes, yes, it was definitely Ebony standing in front of him, she looked exhausted and worn down, but it was definitely her. Lucius pulled her close to him, never wanting to let go

"You're really back" He said

"Forever this time" Ebony replied "as long as you'll take me"

"Only Forever?" Lucius said

"Forever and ever" Ebony whispered.


	21. Busted

**AN:So I said I'd be taking a break, and I fully intended to, however I decided to write a lil bit more, I've been awake since the early hours of sunday morning, so please forgive me if it is a bit rubbish. please R&R and enjoy (:**

They lay together, silently, wrapped in each other's arms, neither one wanting to let go. The morning sun was fighting to get through the curtains. Ebony was still fast asleep with a smile upon her face. Lucius sighed, he found it hard to believe that she had really come back, he prayed it wasn't just a dream. Ebony let a small moan leave her lips and fluttered her eyes open, she smiled at Lucius and extended a hand to his cheek. They could have happily stayed like that forever and they did for many hours until Draco started to knock on the door.

"Go away" Lucius said

"Father, you must come downstairs immediately" Draco said through the door

"Why?"

"Kingsley Shacklebolt,The minister of magic is here"

Lucius rushed out of bed and hurriedly put on some clothes

"Stay here Ebony" He said before heading downstairs to the drawing room where the minister was waiting.

"Lucius" greeted the Kingsley

"Minister" Lucius replied as he sat himself in his chair

"It appears as if I have awoken you this morning"  
"Yes, something like that, minister" Lucius said

Kingsley laughed

"It is unlike you to be in bed so late, it is also unlike you to submit reports of such bad quality, as you have been these past few months"

"Ah, yes. I have not been feeling quite myself recently" Lucius said honestly

"Then maybe the rumours are true" Kingsley said in smooth, precise tones

"Rumours? What rumours?" Lucius asked

"That you have been courting a young lady, but, that is of course none of my business"

"You are quite right, it isn't your business" Lucius snapped

"Well, I sincerely hope that your reports will be back at your usual standard now that you seem to be yourself again, which incidentally is why I am here"

"Oh?"

"Yes, I thought it best to skip the other departments with this, you see, I need a full report on Ebony DiSilva, the aurors are sure she is a threat, I however am not convinced, all I want are the facts, there is no room for speculation in this report. Do you think you can do it?"

Lucius nodded nervously

"Yes, I'm sure I can manage it"

"Very well, take as long as you need, all of your other assignments will be given to other people, this is of utmost importance, good day"

With that Kingsley Shacklebolt left.

Lucius went back upstairs, Ebony was sitting at the edge of the bed, nervously. Lucius sat next to her and put an arm around her shoulders, she was so cold. Lucius looked at her, he thought that she still looked tired, she smiled at him all the same. Ebony yawned and nestled her head against him, waiting to hear what the minister had to say.

"I'm sure he knows about you…well, us" Lucius finally said

"How could he?"

"I don't know, but I wouldn't put it past him"

"This is a bad thing right?"

"No, it's not bad, he believes in your innocence after all"

"Good" Ebony said tiredly.

Ebony was still very tired, all those nights of not sleeping had really caught up with her, she fell asleep sitting where she was, Lucius carefully moved her further back onto the bed and made sure that she was covered. He went into his study and sat, thinking about how he was going to write the report. Lucius gathered up every piece of information that he had about Ebony and organised them in a folder carefully. He spent much of the remainder of the day reading over them, taking Draco's initiative and highlighting things that would probably be useful.

It was early in the evening when Ebony awoke again, she wandered off to have a shower before going to find Lucius. The shower water was very hot and scented like sandalwood. Ebony just stood there underneath the cascade of water for a while, enjoying it immensely. Once out of the shower, she felt refreshed, she put on a flowing cotton dress and went downstairs.

Draco was sitting in the kitchen, mixing up some potions, he was topless and Ebony noticed how he was covered in bruises, cuts and scars. Ebony gasped at the sight of him and Draco looked up.

"What happened?" She asked

"Father" Draco replied sinisterly


	22. about the past

**AN: So I'm back! new computer, new operating system and I haven't been able to upload to the documents...so What I am trying is...i'm updating the ones I already have and uploading to see if that works *fingers X'd* please R7R if it does work...and enjoyy**

Ebony took a step back, shocked at what Draco had just said. Her eyes grew wide.

"what he did was cruel and uncalled for, but, you must understand he was completely torn apart when you were gone..." Draco said quickly, seeing the fear on Ebony's face

"but, why aren't they healed yet?" Ebony asked

"Cursed injuries usually take longer to heal, do they not?" Draco replied

Ebony nodded, she knew that Lucius was capable of doing many horrible things, but she never thought that he would treat his own son in such a monstrous way. Ebony looked into the cauldron that Draco was using to mix his potion and tutted.

"It's too green" she said "It should be more of an aqua colour...put a few more beetles in"

"What? Are you sure?" Draco asked

"Yes I'm sure!" Ebony said

Draco did as she told him and sure enough the potion lightened to a pale aqua coloured, viscous, paste-like mixture.

"Wow, thanks, I guess" Draco said

"It was nothing" Ebony replied sincerely.

Lucius was sitting in his study, his eyes were tired from writing so much, his head was aching through having concentrated so much, he closed the note book he was using t write the report in then closed his eyes tightly, he massaged his temples, hoping to ease the pain. He did not hear the door open and then close again, nor did he hear the chair on the other side of his desk being moved. He was not aware of anyone else being in the same room as him until they reached out and touched his arm.

"Been working hard?" they asked in a concerned tone

"Something like that" He agreed "Come here" he said softly

Ebony made her way over to him and put her hand on his cheek, Lucius pulled her onto his lap, they were silent and didn't move, Ebony buried her face into his neck, relishing in the moment, she had missed times like those so much.

"You have no idea how much I missed you" She whispered into his ear "I never stopped thinking of you, I should have listened when my gut kept telling me to come back"

"You wanted to come back?" Lucius asked

Ebony nodded "Almost every day" she admitted

Lucius pulled her tighter towards him.

"I'm sorry" He said "I acted like a monster, I don't expect that you'll ever forgive me, not really"

Ebony kissed him gently

"I have already forgiven you" she said

"I do not deserve your forgiveness"

"That may be so, but you have it anyway"

Lucius smiled at her, she had managed to make him feel less like the monster he thought he was.

"you know, I think it's time we had something to eat" Lucius said

"I agree" Ebony said, realising at last how hungry she was

Lucius had ensured that there was a big meal ready in the dining room, he had anticipated that Ebony would be hungry.

"I wasn't quite sure if your tastes had changed" Lucius said

"Oh no, this is perfect" Ebony said truthfully, the whole meal was cooked to perfection

"Mink has been working on this since morning" Lucius said

"I can tell" Ebony said.

After eating they went through to the drawing room, Lucius had poured them both a glass of wine, Ebony sipped at hers apprehensively as she was not a big wine drinker, much preferring drinks such as Vodka and Absinthe, Lucius could not stand either and stuck to his fine wines, Champagne and Firewhiskey.

"What do you think of this wine?" He asked Ebony

"It is bearable"She replied "Although, I don't think I will ever appreciate wine as you do"

"It is something you learn to appreciate, it will come with time"

"Well, as it is, I do not understand your love for the drink"

"Nor do I understand your appreciation of Absinthe, horrid stuff in my opinion, I find it to taste quite ghastly"

Ebony laughed

"It is a shame you think that way! I would have liked to have shared a bottle with you someday" she said "It was a favoured drink among the Slytherin common room whilst I was at school"

"As it was when I was there too, naturally as it should be as it shares one of the colours of Slytherin" Lucius noted

"Absinthe was the inspiration for my hangover potion, you know. I used to make it for me and my friends, I devised it so that it was simple to make whilst hungover, but there are some side effects"

"Side effects?"

"Oh, yeah...It can induce euphoria and hallucinations and has been known to make people want to be closer to those around them" Ebony said with a giggle. "Oh, god... wine goes straight to my head!"

Lucius laughed

"And Absinthe does not?"

"The difference is, that I expect it of Absinthe!" Ebony exclaimed "Tell me about when you was at school"

"Why?"

"I'm curious" Ebony said with a shrug

"Well, I was an ordinary Slytherin student, I suppose, for the most part at least. I excelled in my studies. I was a prefect too, also, I was part of what they called the 'Slug club'"

"But what about friends, and all that?" Ebony asked

"I had friends, naturally I was the leader of the group"

"Naturally" Ebony agreed

"We thought ourselves above the rules, for the most part. We evaded being caught in our misdeeds though, we'd buy Firewhiskey during Hogsmeade trips and drink at the Hog's head, then once we returned, one of us would go down to the kitchens for some food and bring it back to the common room where we continued to drink ourselves silly. Absinthe was always the favoured drink of the Slytherin common room, that is where I grew to despise it so. You could say that my NEWT years were colourful to say the least. I started to grow my hair out in my 6th year after a drunken rant about my father, it seemed a good way to defy him at the time"

Ebony sighed

"I like your hair, it suits you" Ebony said, sounding rather drunk.

She reached out to the wine bottle and had begun to fill her glass once more

"I thought you didn't like wine?" Lucius asked

"I don't" Ebony said "But, I don't really care" she giggled

"Tell me" Lucius started "about when you were at school"

"My NEWT years were more colourful than yours by far, although I'm sure you're aware of that, with the battle and what not" Ebony started "Alyss and I often managed to sneak outside of school during our 6th year, we went to a muggle pub mostly, our favoured drink there being Vodka as it was cheapest! A few times we didn't return until the morning. Of course during our 7th year, that stopped, we relied on our natural ability to be sly and deceiving to sneak to the kitchens and have Absinthe delivered to the castle. We spent many a evening getting paralytic from drinking so much. Sasha never really drank much, except on the days you were about of course."

Lucius laughed loudly

"We had been in on the Absinthe stuff since our 5th year, Alyss always refrained from drinking when you were around, so Sasha took her place, we wanted nothing to do with her attempts to bed you! Instead we sat back and laughed at the endless plans going around on how people were planning to slip you Love potion!" Ebony giggled "They all thought you were very handsome"

"And what about you? Did you agree with them?" Lucius asked

Ebony giggled again

"I did" she replied

she had downed the remainder of her drink and had reached for the wine bottle once more, Lucius grabbed her hand and moved it from the bottle

"I think you have had enough to drink tonight" He said

"Noooo" Ebony protested

"Yes, my dear. You have had far too much to drink" Lucius said

"My dear!" Ebony cried in a sort of mocking tone

Lucius shook his head, despairingly in exasperation, he couldn't quite believe how much wine affected her.

"Lucius Malfoy" Ebony started

"What now?" he asked with a smirk

"I am going to kiss you and then.."

She never finished her sentence, Lucius had put one of his fingers over her lips to quiet her and had started to kiss her before she had the chance to do so to him. Ebony wrapper her hands around the back of his head and took a handful of his hair in one hand. Lucius had pushed her backwards onto the sofa and Ebony let out a small moan, still with her hands wrapped around his head and tangled in his hair.

The door swung open and Lucius looked up.

"What do you want?" He snarled

"I didn't realise you were busy" Draco said, turning his gaze to the floor "I'll get out of your way"

"Don't bother, I fear that you have ruined the moment entirely" Lucius said as he sat upright once more

"Don't move!" Ebony protested "He didn't ruin my moment!"

"She's drunk" Lucius said

"Then maybe you should take her to bed or put her in the shower" Draco suggested

Lucius stood up quickly and in one fluid movement picked Ebony up off of the sofa

"You're going to sleep this off" He said assertively before walking her upstairs to the bedroom then gently lowered her onto the bed. He kissed her on the forehead before walking back to the door.

"You will sleep" He said

Ebony didn't argue, she just glared then smiled as she watched him turn and walk away.


	23. Winter

**AN: phew! This one took a lot to write! I have a pretty solid idea of where this is going now, all the niggly little details and everything! I just need to put it into words! Please R&R and most importantly...enjoy!**

Morning meant darkness, the moon still shone bright in the sky. It wasn't so early, the darkness was just winter. Mink had lit all of the fireplaces, yet there was still an undeniable chill passing throughout Malfoy manor. Frost had covered every roof and every blade of grass, giving them the appearance that they were covered with tiny diamonds. Malfoy manor was a pleasing, beautiful sight to the artistic eye.

Ebony sat, curled up on the sofa in the drawing room, cradling a mug of hot chocolate in both hands, Lucius had an arm around her protectively. Ebony had begun to get ill a few days previous and Lucius had sent Mink to get some medicine for her. Draco sat quietly in an armchair, looking at them. He had had trouble accepting that his mother would never come back, he didn't like it, but he now accepted it. Watching them, Draco realised how he had never seen his father act in such a way to his mother. Ebony put her mug onto the coffee table, suddenly feeling very hot and not feeling able to drink a hot drink. Ebony shrugged Lucius' arm off of her, hoping it would take from how hot she was feeling.

"Are you okay?" He asked, concerned

"Yeah, just a bit hot "Ebony said weakly

"Well, you look awful" Draco said "you ought to be resting"

Ebony shook her head

"I'm okay" she insisted

Draco shrugged silently.

Ebony had lied, she was not feeling okay, in fact, she felt terribly weak. She knew that if she were resting Lucius would not leave her side and she knew that he had been assigned an important report to finish, he had not told her what it was exactly, but she knew it was important that he finish it. Lucius had stood up, and went to his study. Draco looked at Ebony.

"You're not okay "He said you just don't want father to worry, right?"

"Basically" Ebony replied "The sooner Mink returns with medicine, the better, in the mean time...I think I'll have a bath."

Ebony slowly and hesitantly made her way to the bath, feeling very weak. She did not run her usual boiling hot bath, but instead kept it rather tepid in temperature, but it was still filled with the many bubbles that she enjoyed. She rested against the edge of the bath and closed her eyes, trying to relax. When Ebony left the bath she felt very tired, she decided to have a short nap before going back downstairs to face the world. She had put on a light dress and leggings so that she was comfortable and had curled up on top of the covers, she rested her head on what were usually Lucius' pillows and quickly fell asleep.

It wasn't until mid afternoon that Ebony awoke, Lucius was sitting on the bed, holding a cold cloth to her face.

"You're boiling" He said, "Mink returned an hour ago, she had just about every medicine you can buy with her...I didn't want to wake you though"

"Have you got the medicine with you?" Ebony asked

Lucius nodded and pulled out a small vial filled with a pale green liquid

"A few drops of this should keep your temperature down" he said softly

Ebony sat up fully, she went to take a hold of the vial

"Let me" Lucius said

Ebony felt too bad to bother arguing, she sat silently and still as Lucius gently tipped her chin back and let a few drops of the potion fall into her mouth. The first thing that she felt was coldness, like her whole body was encased in ice, that gradually faded into a mildly cool feeling that she found very comfortable. Ebony sighed contentedly and turned her head into Lucius' chest.

"Are you feeling up to having lunch? I had Mink save you something, just in case" Lucius said

"I don't think I should eat" Ebony sighed

"Do you want to sleep some more?" Lucius asked, still concerned

"No, no, I think I can go the rest of the day without it" Ebony replied as she curled up closer to Lucius

"Are you going to come back downstairs at all?"

"I'm quite happy right here, as I am" she replied dreamily.

Lucius smiled

"you're feeling better then?"

"A bit, I'm sure I'll be fine in the morning" Ebony said.

The next morning, Ebony was not fine, before Lucius had even started to dream of waking up she had rushed into the bathroom, feeling as if she was going to bring up every one of her internal organs, she hunched herself over the toilet bowl, retching, she had eaten hardly anything the day previous and therefore had very little to bring up , after an hour of sitting in the bathroom, Ebony was able to get up, she found herself feeling much better, but still a bit weak and faint. She crept to her dressing room so that she would not wake anyone and changed into one of her cotton dresses and quietly made her way to the kitchen. She made herself some bread with Jam as she thought having much more would cause her to be sick again. Ebony ate slowly as she looked through the window into the dark morning. She had not left Malfoy manor once since returning, Lucius had forbid it, saying there was too much risk involved, Ebony sighed, she had enjoyed working and would have liked to have got another job, however she never approached Lucius with the idea, knowing he'd refuse it.

Ebony wandered off to the library, realising that she had not read much at all in the past few weeks, she sat down with a book, but no matter how hard she tried she just couldn't concentrate, she found it to be very frustrating, she had never had concentration problems before. She sighed and put her book down. Ebony stood up, wondering whether Lucius was awake or not. She found him sitting on the bed, without a shirt, looking out of the window silently. Ebony stood in front of him and put her arms around his neck, Lucius pulled her onto his lap.

"Good morning" He said tiredly, having obviously not been awake long

"Morning" she said in return.

Ebony had absent mindedly begun to stroke his arm, Lucius shuddered as her fingers passed over his dark mark, it always sent chills down his spine when she did that, like he half expected it to summon Voldemort back from wherever people went once they died. Ebony felt him shudder that time and swiftly drew her hand back.

"Don't" Lucius said quickly

"But, it obviously troubles you"

"No, I was just being silly" He sighed "It's stupid, but sometimes I'm scared he'll come back somehow, take you away"

Ebony rested her head on his shoulder and replaced her hand over the dark mark, stroking it softly, following the lines of the scar.

"Did it hurt?" she asked

"Yes" He replied "To say that it felt as if my arm had been engulfed in cursed fire wouldn't even scratch the surface of the pain, it lasted only a few minutes, yet it's not something I'd wish to go through ever again"

Ebony continued to stroke the scar in silence, still not feeling completely right in herself, of course, she didn't tell Lucius, he'd worry and she didn't want him to worry about her, whatever it was, she'd get through it on her own.


	24. Christmas

**AN:Wow, another hard one to write! I fear they will only become harder to write after this! be warned from after this chapter things are not going to be all roses for them**! **Please read and review**!** Enjoyyy**

5 days before Christmas, Ebony awoke to a transformed Malfoy Manor, the decorations were exquisite, every room looked like a winter wonderland. The Christmas tree was in the drawing room and was almost tall enough to reach the ceiling, it was decorated with all sorts of fanciful things, a golden star decorated with diamonds stood at the very top. Ebony had not yet fully recovered from being ill and still occasionally found herself rushing off to the bathroom to be sick, this worried Lucius but Ebony insisted that it was nothing.

Ebony had worried that the present she had owl ordered would not arrive in time, luckily it arrived in the early evening of December 20th, a small package containing a stunning silver ring. The ring had a very wide band and was engraved with a filigree pattern. Ebony had also owl ordered him a set of matching cuff links with the ring, she smiled contentedly to herself as she wrapped the small boxes in silver wrapping paper.

As Ebony had hidden herself away somewhere, Lucius took the opportunity to wrap, or more accurately to have Mink wrap the presents that he had got for her, he had had a hard time deciding what to get her, so he too eventually settled on jewellery. He had spent a long time discussing with the shop clerk about what he should get.

"Women do like jewellery, right?" He had asked nervously before committing to buying the jewellery.

Draco was not around either as he had gone to spend Christmas and new year with his girlfriend, Astoria, it was going to be a very quiet Christmas at Malfoy Manor, not that Lucius or Ebony minded much, they were more than happy within each others company.

Christmas eve seemed to be a calm,serene type of day. Lucius awoke late in the morning and Ebony even later, it was a very bright day and the sky was clear and blue, a calm breeze pushed through the tree tops. Lucius had propped himself up on one elbow, and watched Ebony sleep. Her eyes opened slowly and suspiciously.

"Were you watching me sleep?" she asked him

Lucius nodded and Ebony propped herself up so that she could look him in the eye.

"Kiss me" Lucius said

Ebony obeyed his request, pushing him to his back and sitting astride him.

"You're perfect" Lucius said as Ebony stood up from the bed

Lucius looked at her questioningly

"Shower" she said, then proceeded to walk out of the room happily, Lucius followed her, Ebony was standing in the shower, washing her hair when Lucius decided to join her. Ebony screamed in shock and immediately moved her hands to cover herself up.

"Oh come on!" Lucius said exasperated "don't act as if I haven't ever seen you naked before, in fact, if I remember rightly, you quite relished in it the night you came back" He added with a devilish grin.

Ebony relaxed and Lucius wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him.

"You know, it's hard to wash with you all over me" Ebony said

Lucius laughed and let go of her so that they both could wash.

The day played out uneventfully, Mink quietly hummed Christmas carols as she made all the preparations for the next day whilst Ebony sat curled up next to Lucius whilst they listened to a broadcast on the Wizarding Wireless Network.

Christmas day meant another late morning for Lucius, but not for Ebony, by the time he has awoke, she had been up hours, putting on makeup and doing her hair, she always got dressed up on Christmas day. Lucius rolled over, hoping to be awake first again, he found himself disappointed to see Ebony was not even in the room, he sat in a sulk, upset that she had not waited to wish him a happy Christmas in the morning, his sulk soon subsided as Ebony walked into the bedroom with a tray in her arms.

"Happy Christmas" she said with a smile as she set the tray on the bed

"Happy Christmas" He replied

"I made you breakfast" Ebony told him "Mother used to call it 'Eggy in the basket'"

Ebony sat at the edge of the bed as she watched Lucius eat, once he was finished, Ebony leant over and kissed him, before happily taking the tray back to the kitchen.

Ebony had decided to wash up by hand that day, doing things the muggle way at Christmas had been one of her family traditions whilst her parents were still alive. Ebony was humming to herself, lost in her own little world when a strong pair of arms wrapped themselves around her waist, Ebony jumped in shock and turned around, glaring at the person standing in front of her.

"I thought I had made it clear in the past...Do. Not. Sneak. Up. On. Me!" she said emphasising the last 6 words by banging a fist against Lucius' chest. Lucius laughed and pulled her close to him.

"I'm sorry" he said "I couldn't resist it" Lucius kissed the top of Ebony's head.

When it came to the Christmas dinner, Mink had surpassed herself, Ebony was careful not to eat too much, in case it brought on her nausea again, Lucius showed no such restraint and ate generous amounts of everything available. After they had both finished eating, they went to the drawing room to exchange gifts, Ebony made Lucius open the small boxes she had got him first, he took one look at the ring and a smile spread across his face.

"What a strange coincidence" He remarked "they're perfect" he finished, referring to both gifts Ebony had got him. Ebony had unwrapped a velvet box, she opened it slowly and saw the most beautiful earrings and bracelet set she had ever seen in her life, white gold set with hundreds of diamonds and emeralds.

"They're beautiful" She said, trying to hold back tears

"I thought, that they would go with your eyes" Lucius said "there's something else"

Lucius reached into his pocket and retrieved a small, plain box.

"I want you to be my wife, marry me?" He said opening the box, revealing an engagement ring of such beauty it easily rivalled the earrings and bracelet that Ebony had just received from him.

"What?" she said, shocked at what he had just asked of her.

"Ebony DiSilva" He started "I would like you to be my wife, Will you marry me?"

Ebony fell backwards into the sofa in shock, she stayed silent for several seconds

"Please, do not make me wait much longer, I can barely take it" Lucius begged

"Yes" Ebony said, still in shock "Lucius Malfoy, I will marry you"

Lucius slowly put the ring onto her finger, before being showered in kisses from the young lady who was to be his wife.


	25. Consequences

**AN:the horrible stuff ensues! please read and review! altho, thankyou very much to the 2 new favourites this story has got! you guys are awesome! enjoy!**

New years eve was another quiet occasion, Lucius had been invited to a work party, but had refused to go, not wanting Ebony to be alone. Ebony's nausea had come back the morning of new years day, Lucius knelt next to her, trying to comfort her as she was violently sick.

"Don't tell me this is nothing" He said

"But it is nothing" Ebony assured him "Winter really doesn't agree with me"

"Well, if you're sure"

"100%" Ebony insisted.

Lucius sighed, he hated seeing her look so weak. It took a long time or Ebony to overcome her nausea that morning, it left her shaking and feeling weak, Lucius lifted her from the floor and watched as she washed her face and cleaned her teeth.

On the 2nd of January, Draco returned to Malfoy Manor, Lucius took him through to the drawing room, where Ebony was sitting impatiently.

"I...we have news" Lucius said as he sat next to Ebony and put an arm around her

"What is it?" Draco asked suspiciously

"We're getting married!" Ebony almost shouted

"You are not!" Draco said

"I can assure you we are" Lucius said

Ebony looked at Lucius, with a smile upon her face, the only thing that could make her situation any more perfect she though, was if Lucius would allow her out of the grounds of Malfoy Manor.

An owl flew into the drawing room, it dropped a copy of The Daily Prophet onto the table, Lucius paid it and picked up the news paper, frowning.

"The Aurors want Kingsley out of the ministers position, apparently some watchmen have gone missing" He said

"They suspect me, don't they?" Ebony sighed

"No...not really, they reckon you're on the run, part of a militia or something" He replied

Any chance Ebony had of convincing him to let her out was slipping away swiftly. Lucius spent the next few days shut away in his study, the report he was assigned became the most important thing he could do, he was determined to finish it quickly and in such a way that it would clear Ebony's name.

The lack of Lucius' presence meant that Ebony was very bored, Draco didn't make much good conversation and often spent time away from the manor, all she wanted was to go out, even if it was only for an hour. It was a bright, albeit cold, January afternoon when Ebony approached Lucius in his study.

"Lucius, I'm bored" she said

"I know, you must be, I can assure you that this report is almost done and when it is, you will have me all to yourself" He replied

"I want to go out"

"No, I absolutely forbid it!" Lucius said

"But..."

"No buts, I've made my mind up, I'll hear nothing more of this matter"

"But.."

"No! Ebony, I refuse to let you out! it is too dangerous, If they were to get to you, to take you away...I could not live with myself, I cannot bare to think what they'll do to you. I love you too much to risk you being taken from me, you understand that, don't you?"

"Yes, I understand that" Ebony said, still determined that she would not be kept locked up, she sat herself at his feet and rested her head on his knee, she knew how he loved it when she did that.

By the next day Ebony had had enough, she was going to go out whether Lucius liked it or not, she knew he'd be in his study all day, and she would only be out for an hour, she had decided to leave straight after Lucius went back to his study after lunch so that he would not notice her missing, she had always had a knack for being sneaky, something that she had learnt from her father. After lunch, Lucius went to his study.

"will you join me?"He asked Ebony

"I'm not feeling so good" Ebony lied "I think I'll do best to rest for now"

Lucius nodded, disappointed with the prospect of spending the afternoon alone, they both went in their separate ways, Ebony waited silently so that she'd hear the study door shut, as soon as it had she apparated.

London was very busy that day, occasionally Ebony saw some watchmen in their dark blue uniforms, but they never saw her in the crowds, she was just happy to be outside, Ebony visited a cosmetics shop in Diagon Alley before returning to Malfoy Manor.

Lucius had just finished up the report when Ebony had apparated back into the grounds of Malfoy Manor. She had crept up to her bed and lay down on it. Lucius sat at his desk, re reading his report when it bounded through the window. The silvery lynx opened it's mouth and spoke in the deep, calming tones of Kingsley Shacklebolt.

"Send the report now, They are coming, don't let them have Ebony until I arrive" it said

Panicked, Lucius rushed up to the bedroom, report in hand, he whistled for his eagle owl and gave it the report, he turned to Ebony, she saw the fear upon his face.

"I'm so sorry" she cried "so sorry, I shouldn't have left"

"That doesn't matter, not right now" He tried to comfort her, he held her close to him

"where did you go?" he asked

"The cosmetics shop, Diagon Alley...I apparated" she whimpered "I thought you wouldn't notice, I was back within the hour"

Suddenly several loud bangs filled the manor, Lucius had an idea he grabbed Ebony and rushed her to a small doorway leading to a narrow flight of stairs.

"Do not move or make a sound until I come to get you" he said

Ebony made her way up the stairs to the attic, she remembered that Lucius had made it a safe room, sitting in the middle of the floor, she was astounded that she could hear everything happening below.

"Ebony DiSilva! Where is she" A man demanded

"I don't know" Lucius said stubbornly

"Yes, you do! Stop lying, she's here somewhere isn't she?"

"No, I do not know where she is"

"But, she has been here hasn't she? Why else would there be women's clothes in this house?" another man said

"She isn't here" Lucius said firmly

There was another crack

"Have you found her?" The voice of the Minister said

"No sir, the other men replied"

"Then I think you'll do well to search the area, I doubt she was stupid enough to come directly here" the minister said

Ebony listened as several cracks boomed throughout the hallway, there was silence for a moment

"Lucius, there has been a severe breach of security at the ministry, not an hour ago, Ebony walked into the ministry, armed with a muggle device, called a bomb, she set it down in the auror department and was last seen running to the way out of the building, the bomb went off destroying several departments, seriously injuring 14 of our staff"

"It wasn't her! I swear it" Lucius said desperately

"Yes, I have a hard time believing that it was her, but as it is I cannot simply clear her name, I can get her a fair trial, if you hand her over to me now, I assume you'll want to be her defence for the trial too?" Kingsley said

Lucius nodded and then flicked his wand at the wall, the doorway to the attic reappeared

"She's up there" Lucius said solemnly.

Kingsley brought Ebony down the stairs to Lucius

"Lucius I can give you only 2 days to arrange the defence, she will be kept in one of the holding cells at the ministry until the trial, I will make sure the trial is a fair one, trust me"

Lucius nodded and turned to Ebony, he grabbed her hand.

"I love you" He said

"I love you too, Lucius" Ebony managed to whisper before apparating to the ministry alongside Kingsley Shacklebolt.


	26. Trial and error

**AN:I have such a hangover today, so god knows how I managed to write so much! thanks to everyone who has read so far! please read and review...enjoyyy**

The holding cell was small and dark, a stone bench like thing went along one side of the cell, a thin blanket and squashed pillow upon it. Ebony was allowed 2 bathroom breaks a day, one in the morning and one at night, she was delivered one small meal of bread and water a day, she didn't eat, she couldn't eat.

Ebony sat on the bench, with her knees pulled to her chest, she paced the small room, there was no light other than a solitary candle in a candle holder on the wall, there was no window, no sounds, no people just the dark. When the candle went out there was noting left at all. No thoughts, no feelings, once the candle was out, everything was gone. A strong, burly wizard escorted her to her bathroom break at the end of the day, she tried desperately to wash her face, her make-up smudged from the crying. She had barely touched the surface of the mess on her face when the burly wizard dragged her back to the holding cell. Thus ended her first day in confinement.

Ebony awoke in denial, turning over, expecting to feel Lucius beside her, and then she opened her eyes. Then she remembered. Ebony closed her eyes once more, and thought of Lucius, she imagined that she could almost feel him there. The door slammed open violently and strong hands yanked her up, away from her fantasy, they dragged her to the bathroom, it was lucky timing, by the time she was in the bathroom she was throwing up violently into the toilet. She barely tried to was her face, she was dragged back to the cell, and Ebony cried some more. She slept through the day, escaping into a fantasy world where she was outside, laying down in an open field, Lucius beside her. It was a beautiful fantasy, yet it was just that, a fantasy. She didn't stir when the food was thrust into the room, she was barely awake when she was dragged for her night time bathroom trip, she went through the motions robotically.

Ebony knew her trial time was approaching, the corridor outside of her holding cell had become unusually busy, Usually it was silent, yet Ebony heard people walking and rushing about outside.

Lucius had barely slept for the past 2 days, putting everything he had into planning Ebony's defence, it had not gone well, he had not been able to contact Alyss, Sasha nor the muggle boy she had worked with at the bar, he felt it was hopeless, but, he wasn't about to give up easily. He had put on his smartest, plain clothes and left for the ministry with plenty of time to spare, upon arrival he walked straight to the courtrooms, he saw the cell where Ebony was being kept and stopped momentarily outside until the guard pushed him away.

The court room was vast and dark, it was a very grim looking place, slowly people filed in, all of them had severe looks upon their faces, Lucius sat uncomfortably in a rough wooden chair, looking around, nervously waiting for Ebony to arrive. Ebony was dragged into the courtroom by the burly looking guard and thrown into another wooden seat next to Lucius. Lucius studied her appearance, she looked tired and worn out, her hair was unbrushed and wild looking. Ebony could not bring herself to look at him, until she felt his hand squeeze her own reassuringly.

They waited for the last of the people to file in, the last two people to enter the room were Jasper Simms, followed by the minister. Jasper stood at the centre of the benches and the minister took his seat to the right. Jasper looked at Lucius cruelly whilst Lucius regarded him with a suspicious eye.

"Order" Shouted Jasper

The room went silent

"We are here today, to pass judgement over Ebony DiSilva, charged for bombing the ministry on they afternoon of January 9th as well as causing several civil disturbances these past months, Defending her is Lucius Malfoy"

Ebony thought it strange that Jasper was leading the trial, but surely it was a good thing, it had to be.

"Miss DiSilva" Jasper started "On the 26th of July Ministry officials were sent to your flat, wanting to talk to you, you were not available, please explain"

"err...Well, I had started to move out, my tenancy contract was coming to an end you see, I had gone the night beforehand" She explained

"Where did you go?" Jasper asked aggressively

"Wiltshire..." Ebony said

"Where in Wiltshire? Miss DiSilva"

"I went to live with Lucius" Ebony mumbled

"You went to live with Lucius? Malfoy?"

Ebony nodded

"Well then Mr. Malfoy, maybe you could explain this?" Jasper said

Lucius twisted one of his rings around his finger

"Ebony and I, are what you may call, an item, we are engaged, to be married" Lucius replied

"So, Miss DiSilva was living with you when the dark mark was cast?"

"Yes, but, I had sent her to Diagon Alley with my house elf that day" Lucius said through gritted teeth

"Why did you send your house elf with her?"

"In case there was any trouble"

Jasper contemplated the answer

"Miss DiSilva, sources tell me that you next left Malfoy Manor on the 2nd of September, please elaborate"

"I went to meet a friend at a pub, she had been worried about me" Ebony replied in an almost whisper

"You had altered your appearance?"

"Lucius thought it was best" Ebony said

"Why did you think so, Mr. Malfoy"

Lucius looked directly at Jasper

"Well, someone had sent Dementors to my home, and I was feeling very over protective of Ebony, I didn't want her implicated if anyone else tried anything whilst we were out"

And then Ebony felt it, a little flutter within her stomach, and it terrified her, it scared her more than the prospect of going to Azkaban, she prayed that she had just imagined the sensation.

"Miss DiSilva, on the morning of September 24th you arrived at the leaky cauldron, needing a room, why had you left Malfoy Manor?"

"We had had a fight the previous night, I was upset and ran away" Ebony admitted

"You used a false name and crudely altered your appearance"

"I didn't want him to find me easily, I was angry"

"you stayed there until my wife brought yu to our house"

"That is correct"

"You stayed there until the 20th of November, Sasha told me that she had gone to make tea and when she returned, you had gone, what made you so anxious to leave?"

Ebony fidgeted nervously, wondering why Sasha had lied to Jasper.

"Draco had come to find me, he said Lucius needed to see me"

"Mr. Malfoy, why did you need to see her?" Jasper addressed Lucius

"I wanted to tell her that I was sorry, that it wasn't her fault, That I didn't blame her. Of course I didn't blame her, I Love her"

"I didn't know it was in the nature of a Deatheater to Love" Jasper said condescendingly

Lucius glared and grabbed the arms of the chair angrily, he flexed his fingers and let out an angry breath, trying to calm himself down.

"Now, Miss DiSilva, tell me about January 9th, the afternoon in particular"

Ebony sighed

"I ate lunch with Lucius, I told him that I felt ill and went upstairs, I had lied, I felt fine But Lucius had forbade me from leaving the manor without him, he was scared for me. When I was sure he wouldn't notice, I apparated to London, I went to the cosmetics shop in Diagon Alley, and then apparated back, I was only out for an hour" Ebony said

"And I suppose, Mr. Malfoy that this can be proved?" Jasper asked

"Of course it can" Lucius said "I managed to get in contact with the shop clerk, she kindly agreed to come to confirm that Ebony was there that day"

"Call her in" Jasper ordered

The kindly looking shop clerk from the cosmetics shop nervously edged her way into the room

"please confirm your name, age and occupation" Jasper said to her

"Dion Rogers, 22, I work as a shop clerk at the cosmetics shop, Diagon alley branch"

"And can you confirm that you saw Miss DiSilva on the afternoon of January the 9th?"

"Yes, it had been a very quiet day in shop, so it's easy to recognise her"

"And how much did Mr. Malfoy pay you to say that?" Jasper asked

"Nothing!" Dion exclaimed

"You don't need to protect him, Mr. Malfoy has bribed almost everyone sitting in this room over the past months, it seems as if he'd go to almost any length to protect Miss DiSilva here" Jasper said

"He didn't pay me" Dion insisted

"You may leave, Miss Rogers" Jasper said

"Miss DiSilva, I hope you understand that this trial is just for decorum, you see there were several eye witnesses who saw you enter the ministry on the 9th and with your questionable defence, your future looks bleak"

Ebony shrunk into the chair, she knew from the moment Lucius ran to her room that she didn't stand a chance.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury" Jasper continued "Have you reached your verdict?"

"Aye" An old witch said and she whispered into Jaspers ear

"Ebony DiSilva you are sentenced to life imprisonment in Azkaban" Jasper said "and if I can sway it that way, you will be subjected to the Dementors kiss"

"NOO!" Lucius shouted jumping from his seat

"Lucius! Sit down" ordered Kingsley Shacklebolt "Simms, You will not subject this girl to the Dementors kiss, No such brutality will happen while I am in power"

"Yes. While you are in power" Jasper sneered "Fetch the Dementors in"

Two Dementors swooped into the room and took Ebony by her arms, once more Lucius jumped from his seat.

"You bastard" He screamed at Jasper as he ran towards where Jasper was standing "You absolute bastard!" Lucius had his hands outstretched ready to strangle Jasper

Then Ebony felt it again, the small flutter in her stomach, and she was more than terrified, she realised for sure what was wrong, she was more like her mother than she thought.

Ebony remembered the story that her mother had told her

"I'd had most of the symptoms right from the start, but didn't show at all for ages, your dad thought I was ill and took me to the hospital, it was such a shock when I found out I was pregnant, the mediwitch was too, apparently contraceptive potions don't work well on me"

There came another flutter bigger than before and Ebony didn't want to believe what was happening. Lucius advanced ever closer to Jasper and suddenly

"Stupefy" The voice of several aurors shouted at once

"Lucius!" Ebony screamed "Lucius! No!"

With that, the Dementors took Ebony away.


	27. the last inch

**AN:first of all thankyou to everyone who has read and reviewed so far! every hit and review is appreciated!!! I'm thinking of taking a break from this for a few days...maybe a week or two...please read and review and as always enjoy!**

Azkaban, a frightful place of misery, fear and broken people. It sits in an angry sea, waves crash against it's towering black walls. Upon taking her first footsteps into the building, Ebony instinctively and protectively laid a hand across her stomach.

Azkaban had become overcrowded, Ebony was pushed into a cell already housing a man, he didn't look so much older than Ebony, 25 at the oldest she thought. He looked tired and worn down, malnourished and ill. The cell contained a hard wooden bench that doubled as a bed, a desk, a lamp and in the corner a toilet that had a sink attached to the side; It was clearly meant to be a one person cell, yet there was no room for new inmates.

Ebony sat herself down on the floor, void of any good feeling, cradling her stomach.

"What's your name?" The man sitting on the bench said

"Ebony" She replied weakly

"Good, don't forget it, You are Ebony" He said

"What is your name?" Ebony asked

"I don't know any more, it's this place, it makes you forget who you are"

"Then, what am I to call you?"

"Whatever you want to"

"You seem like an Alex to me" Ebony said

"Yes, I think I'll like that" he replied

They just sat there for most of the day, looking at nothing in particular, just sitting, Ebony looked to the desk.

"Why is there a desk?" She asked

"We can write to people, you know. Most prisoners forget after a while, the Owls turn up twice a week, they drop off letters first time, pick them up the second time."

They went back to silence.

There was no sense of time in Azkaban, there are no windows or clocks and the candles are never put out, Ebony fell asleep sitting on the floor, she didn't know how long she slept, she just knew she woke up at some point and stumbled to the toilet and proceeded to be sick for an unknown period of time. She crawled back to her corner a curled herself back up and tried to sleep again, waiting for food to be brought to the cell. She ate monotonously, forcing the dry, almost stale food down, not for herself, but for her baby. She spent every day the same, sleep, throw up, sleep some more, eat, sleep. She rarely moved from her corner, what broke the monotony of her days was something that she should have expected, but didn't all the same.

A Muscular wizard walked to the bars of her cell door.

"You! DiSilva" He barked "You have a letter, if you want to write back there's stuff in the desk, you give that back to me when I return in a few days! Get it?"

Ebony nodded and crawled to the cell door, she reached through the bars and grabbed the letter, the crawled back to her corner.

Ebony recognised the writing immediately and tears welled up in her eyes, she fumbled with the parchment, trying to unfold it, eventually she had opened the letter, her hands shook as she read it.

_ My dearest Ebony,_

_I am sorry, I failed you. I can never forgive myself for the hell you are surely going through. Things here aren't going well, Jasper has called for Kingsley Shacklebolt's resignation, the thought that he resigns is a fear that haunts me so._

_I think of you every day._

_With this letter I send all of my Love._

_Your Lucius._

Ebony held the letter tight to her chest as the tears poured down her face. Alex looked at her, regarding her in a strange way, he had not seen any emotion in such a long time.

"Who sent that?" He asked

"Someone very special to me, god, I Love him so much" Ebony patted her stomach "He gave me this baby"

"You are with child?" Alex asked

Ebony nodded as she got up to sit at the desk, the muscular wizard was right, there were plenty of ink, parchment and quills for her to write back to Lucius.

_ My Lucius_

_I know I cannot have possibly been here more than a week, yet it already feels like a lifetime. I fear that soon I will lose myself. I once heard that at the end, all you have is your integrity, one tiny inch that you should never let them take. They can have mine, without you I do not want it._

_Please, don't forget me and stay strong, please stay strong._

_I Love you, I do not blame you for what happened. I Love you._

_Your Ebony._

Ebony waited for what seemed like such a long time for the muscular wizard to return to take her letter to be sent, he snatched it from her hand as she passed it through the bars and walked off to collect letters from other prisoners, Ebony went back to her corner.

Lucius sat in his study, reading over the letter that Ebony had sent him, he was so worried about her. Lucius knew that she was innocent and he was set on proving it, as it was however, all of his leads were a bit slippery and he simply couldn't get to them. Frustrated with himself he pushed everything on his desk to the floor, before sending off his completed visitation form.


	28. Ministry misdeeds

**AN:Wow, this whole thing has got A LOT longer than I ever expected! Thank you to everyone that has read the story, you're all awesome! please leave reviews =D and enjoy!**

Kingsley Shacklebolt sat in his office, silently contemplating the report that he had had Lucius write, it just didn't add up, he was quite sure it'd differ from those that the auror department had sent on, but he never expected them to differ so greatly. Lucius' report could have easily been about a different girl completely.

Three men barged into the ministers office, Kingsley sighed, he had known it would be coming eventually.

"We're in uneasy times, Kingsley" one of them started "It hasn't been easy for any of us, but recently you've shown a serious misjudgement over some...incidents, And, well we feel you'd do much better back in the auror department"

"And, I suppose the entire Wizengamot agreed to this?" Kingsley asked

"The decision was virtually unanimous"

"And who do they propose replace me?"

"Me" The man sneered "You are expected in the auror office, Kingsley, I suggest you go there now"

Kingsley swiftly left the office, taking the report with him

"Congratulations, Mr. Simms" one of the other wizards said as Jasper sat himself behind the desk

"Thank you Wilkins, now, todays appointments?" He asked

"Malfoy, 12pm" Wilkins said

"Very well then, I suppose they'll be arriving soon, Wilkins, I want you to escort them here personally, and Tomas, make sure Shacklebolt doesn't get in the way"

At exactly 12pm Wilkins opened the door to the ministers office and greeted Jasper

"Your appointment, sir" He said

"Well let them in" Jasper said, irate.

Jaspers guest entered the room

"Narcissa, Darling" Jasper said, extending his arms to embrace her

"Jasper" She replied politely

"How are things with you?"

"I've been very well, thank you" She replied

"Good" Jasper said "Please, sit" He indicted the chair opposite his desk

Narcissa sat on the chair

"Now, onto business. As you know, I managed to get the girl in Azkaban, and I can assure you that your ex husband is suffering greatly due to it. They were engaged, you know?"

"Engaged?" Narcissa choked

"Oh yes, they were engaged, they still are, marvellous ring too, the one thing she was allowed to keep"

"And, how is she taking it?"

"From what I hear, she's quite ill, she throws up almost every day, she still manages to write to him, she's getting weaker by the day, she probably won't last much longer, but enough of that, now for the small matter of the payment"

Narcissa nodded and shoved a full velvet pouch onto the desk

"£1000 Galleons, as agreed" She said

"You know, Narcissa, if it wasn't for your need of revenge, I would never been able to get where I am now, there are going to be big changes here at the ministry, new opportunities, I could get you out of muggle employment, if you're interested, get in touch"

Narcissa nodded and left the room silently.

"Wilkins!" Jasper barked "Bring me Lucius"

"Yes sir" Wilkins said.

Wilkins didn't have trouble getting Lucius to come into the ministry, he was expecting to have to drag him into the ministers office, his expectations were very wrong. Lucius just sighed and walked to the nearest fireplace to get some floo powder then used the floo powder directly into the ministers office.

"You wanted to see me?" He sneered upon seeing Jasper in the ministers office instead of Kingsley.

"Yes Lucius, I wanted to see you, I think this visit may be worth your time, Sit."

Lucius sat himself in the chair uneasily

"I could make things very hard for you" Jasper started "But, I could also make things easier"

Lucius said nothing.

"The visitation forms you sent, for example, I could make it so that they disappear, or I could make it so that they get processed very quickly, and all I want from you is compliance" Jasper continued

Lucius still said nothing.

"You do want to see Ebony don't you?" Jasper asked patronisingly

"Of course I want to see her" Lucius snapped

"I could do more than just make visitation forms pass through quicker, you know... Do I have your compliance, Mr. Malfoy?"

"Yes" Lucius said

"Good, because I need you to do something for me, something that is I your area of expertise, I'm sure"

"What do you want me to do?" Lucius asked, ashamed of himself for allowing himself to be used in such a way.

"Your ex wife has a partner, Patrick Brook, I want him dead, if he's out of the picture by the end of the day, you could be seeing Ebony as early as tomorrow"

Lucius nodded

"He takes muggle transport home, you'd do best to wait for him at Notting Hill Gate, try not to be seen" Jasper said and then waves Lucius out of the office.


	29. Notting Hill Gate

**AN: ooooh, big reveal here! thank you everyone that has favourited/reviewd or even just stuck with reading this up to now, you guys rock! please leave a review...but most importantly...enjoy!**

Lucius stood in the shadows, carefully watching the stairs leading to the Notting Hill Gate tube station, waiting. He couldn't believe what he was about to do, but, he had to see Ebony. Lucius did not trust Jasper, not one bit, but he was sure that if he had not agreed to killing this man, that he would have never seen Ebony again.

Lucius waited patiently, many people passed by him, he was beginning to think that he had been too late, yet he stood there, waiting. His patience paid off, at half past nine, Patrick Brook walked straight past him, Lucius followed silently and swiftly, making sure that Patrick was unaware of his presence. Patrick was a good man, or at least he tried to be a good man, like everyone else he occasionally slipped and did something bad. He lived in a tiny one room studio flat near Portobello Road, he wasn't very rich at all. Lucius had been astounded to see that Narcissa had chosen Patrick Brook. Patrick had just stepped up to the main doorway of the block of flats when Lucius made his move, pressing the tip of his wand painfully into Patrick's throat.

"So, he's finally sent someone to kill me" Patrick said with a sarcastic laugh

"What do you mean?" Lucius sneered

"You do not know?"

"Obviously not"

Patrick sighed

"Remove your wand sir, and I will tell you" Patrick said through gritted teeth

Lucius cautiously drew his wand away from Patrick's throat

"I think we ought to have our little chat inside, don't you?" Lucius said, hoping that Patrick would not turn to see him until they were in Patrick's flat.

Patrick did not care who was sent to kill him, he didn't see how it mattered, if he was going to be killed what difference did it make to know who was going to kill him. The room in which Patrick lived was sparsely furnished, a bed, a sofa and a coffee table. A communal kitchen and bathroom were in the lower levels of the building. Patrick sat himself on the bed and indicated that Lucius should sit on the sofa.

"Lucius Malfoy..." Patrick started "I wouldn't have thought you of all people would have bowed to Jaspers wishes"

"What are you talking about?" Lucius demanded

"Of course, you wouldn't have known, but a smart man like yourself, I would have thought you'd had worked it out by now" Patrick continued, as if he were thinking aloud

"Why does Jasper want you dead?" Lucius asked dangerously, the man was trying his patience.

"I know far too much" Patrick said as he lit up a cigarette "I'm curious, what is it that Jasper has over you?"

"Ebony, as long as I do what he wants me to, she's safe"

"Ahh, the girl! You know, Cissa said that you couldn't Love, until you met the girl that is..."

"She knew?" Lucius said

"Of course she did, you may not have Loved her, but she Loved you, so much. It was obvious to her that you had met someone at the ball, you returned a changed man...It broke her heart"

Lucius said nothing, wanting to know how Narcissa's feelings were relevant to what Jasper wanted him to do.

"You went looking for her after the battle, didn't you?"

"I spent weeks tracking her down" Lucius said softly, remembering the panic he had felt

"Cissa had given up by then, you would never have grown to Love her back"  
"She left a few days after I had managed to find where Ebony was"

There was silence for a few seconds, Patrick took a long drag of his cigarette and blew a smoke ring

"She hates the girl, and that is understandable, I mean, this girl in one evening gets something that Narcissa never could... She's more intelligent than you think, your ex wife"

"What has that got to do with anything?" Lucius asked, frustrated

"Almost everything! All those connections you had before going to Azkaban, she used them! She went to the most power hungry, cruel man she could find, and she begged him to help her find out who the girl was and be rid of her"

Lucius had become filled with rage

"Of course Jasper saw it as an opportunity to get him more power and took her up on the offer, he's a smart man Jasper, good luck trying to bring him down" Patrick said as he finished his cigarette "You know, I'm glad my last fag was so good" Patrick smiled as Lucius pointed his wand at him.

"Avada Kedavra"

The room was filled with a flash of green light and Lucius apparated from the flat to his manor.

Draco jumped up from his seat upon hearing his fathers arrival, it was strange for Lucius to return home so late, Lucius thundered through his manor, not really knowing where he was going or what he was going to do.

"Father" Draco called after him, he had not seen his father in such a way in a very long time.

Lucius did not listen, he thundered onwards and up the stairs and into an old, disused room. The room was full of memories that stank of Narcissa, Lucius took out his wand and there was chaos, there was destruction. Draco could do nothing but watch from the doorway as his father destroyed everything tainted with her. Shards of mirror landed across the floor along with smouldering papers and melted jewellery, Lucius relished in the destruction, letting the rage rule him, then he remembered Ebony and how Narcissa's jealousy had caused her to suffer. Narcissa was going to pay dearly for her actions.

Narcissa sat in her home with a cup of tea, conflicted within herself, oh how she resented Ebony, she was glad that Ebony was suffering and getting weaker by the day, but she was also saddened that Lucius was hurting because of it. She still Loved Lucius, she didn't know why, but she did and she hated that he was hurting. Narcissa feared what would happen if Lucius ever found out how she had played a part in taking Ebony from him, she was sure that if he ever found out, he would show no mercy and would enjoy destroying her.


	30. Visiting

**AN:Thanks again everyone who has read this! every single reader is appreciated so very much! Please leave a review it'll make my day! enjoyy!**

His destructive rage had left Lucius exhausted, he collapsed to the floor with an angry moan, his face fell to the palms of his hand. Draco was still standing in the doorway, horrified at what the room had become. Slowly, he edged into the room, he knelt down next to his father, watching him apprehensively.

"It was her" Lucius said "Vengeful bitch!"

"Who was it?" Draco asked

"Your mother! I'll kill her" Lucius said angrily

Draco groaned, frustrated and angered, he had to make his father see sense some how.

"if you kill her you'll land yourself in Azkaban! And that is the last thing that you need, that Ebony needs" Draco always knew what would get to his father most at any time, and he knew, that even though it was cruel, using Ebony would get to him more than anything.

Ebony, his rage had almost made him forget about her, his Ebony alone in Azkaban she needed him to be strong, now more than ever, Lucius was ashamed of his actions, how he had let rage overcome him so easily, his despair tugged at his soul, almost tearing him apart.

"I have done something terrible, Draco" He said quietly "I killed a man tonight, on the orders of someone that I cannot trust"

Draco was taken aback, unsure whether or not he should try to console his father

"I must see Jasper" Lucius said

"Father, you could not possibly leave now, it is so late" Draco tried to reason with him

"No, he will see me" Lucius insisted, placing his wand inside his cane and apparating out of the manor.

It was very late, Jasper had almost given up on Lucius- almost. He was pleasantly surprised to here the cracking of someone apparating outside of his house, even more so when there was a knock on the door, Jasper confidently opened the door and welcomed his visitor inside.

"Lucius, My good man" he greeted him as if they were old friends "I was beginning to think you wouldn't come" he added in a mock concerned tone.

"When do I get to see Ebony?" Lucius asked, narrowing his eyes to a hateful glare.

"You can see her in the morning, I'll have it all arranged, how does a whole day sound? Hmm 9-5 sort of thing?"

"No dementors" Lucius said

"Very well then, I'll have aurors guard the visiting cell then" Jasper said through gritted teeth

Lucius left Jaspers home quickly, having got what he wanted out of their meeting.

Lucius slept uneasily through the remainder of the night, scared of the condition he might find Ebony in, he had had first hand experience of the horrors of the place, he knew how many people completely lost their minds there. That night Ebony did not sleep easily either, the baby kicking uncomfortably, she ran a hand over her stomach, there was a definite bump now, she sighed to herself unhappily, she was slowly losing herself to the wretched place, there were days when she could not remember Lucius, she would wake up from a dream, wondering whose face had filled it and then there were days when all she could do was think of him, those days were worst of all, she had no happy thoughts any more, thinking of him just made her feel alone.

Ebony was awoken in a horrifying way, the cell door slammed open and a large, strong pair of hands grabbed her by the wrists and she was dragged violently through the prison to the lower levels, she was thrown into another, empty cell, it looked much the same as the one she shared with Alex, the only difference being that it was aurors who patrolled the corridors instead of dementors, the door was solid, unlike the bars of her previous cell, a small window was at the top of the door, but Ebony paid little attention to it being there, instead she sat herself in the corner of the room and tried to sleep again, she didn't think she had slept long when the cell door was slammed open again, she braced herself expecting another rough, violent touch, but it never came. Instead she felt arms wrap around her gently and a face pressed against hers, their smell was familiar, almost spicy, with a cinnamon edge, slowly they pulled away from her and Ebony opened her eyes, she stood, looking at her visitor for a moment before throwing her arms around him and letting the tears pour out of her.

"I was beginning to think you were nothing but a dream" Ebony said between sobs

Lucius stroked her hair, it had become knotted and unkempt, he had sat himself on the bench and pulled Ebony onto his lap, she was still his Ebony, yet she looked so different, the fire within her eyes had diminished, her skin no longer glowed and she looked so ill, and it was strange, Lucius thought that she looked as if she had gained weight whilst in prison, her filthy prison robes definitely looked a bit tight. Ebony had grabbed a fistful of his hair and held it to her cheek, her face buried in his neck.

Ebony cried into his neck for an hour straight before leaning back to look at him, he was really there, she tried to smile, but it was as if she had forgotten how, Lucius smiled back at her crookedly. Lucius tried to run his fingers through her hair, but it was too knotted.

"Let me comb your hair" Lucius sighed, reaching for a comb in one of his pockets

Ebony nodded and lowered herself to the floor, sitting at Lucius' feet, he grabbed a chunk of her hair and began to force his comb through it, it should have been quite painful, but Ebony could hardly feel anything any more. Lucius combed her hair as best as he could, yet it remained knotted still, it would need to be cut with the state it was in. The rest of the day Ebony spent laying down with her head rested on Lucius' lap.

All too soon the cell door was opened forcefully once more, Ebony sat bolt upright, knowing what was going to happen, she placed her hands on Lucius face.

"You're going to leave now? Aren't you?" She asked morosely

Lucius took her hands in his own.

"I am afraid I must" He shook his head "I will get you out of here, I promise" Lucius said before an auror stepped into the cell to separate them

"I Love you" Lucius said "Do not forget that" as the auror escorted him away.

Moments later the auror returned and forcefully took Ebony back to her old cell, he threw her to the floor where she curled up. The cell seemed strangely empty, at first Ebony couldn't think why, and then she looked to the bench, The man she had called Alex was gone.

"Where is Alex?" She cried out

"Alex?" the auror said

"The man who shared this cell!" Ebony cried

"Dead" The auror replied with a sneer.


	31. Univited guests

**AN: This Chap is longer than usual! Huzzah! Now a warning, part of this chap isn't so pretty, but I think it necesarry for the story to progress. Anyhoo, please leave reviews, I only have 5! enjoyy!**

Lucius returned home rather morose, he poured himself a glass of whiskey and sat in his study, not wishing to be disturbed, his hair fell across his face and he gently brushed it aside, tucking it behind his ear. He sipped at the whiskey, not really wanting to drink anything at all. He looked out of the window at the sunset, it cast a harsh, orange glow upon everything, accentuating hard edges, the usually beautiful grounds of Malfoy manor looked monstrous and ugly.

Draco padded silently back through Malfoy manor, having just sent an owl to Astoria. He noticed the study door was slightly ajar, he knocked on it lightly, he didn't wait for a reply before opening the door, he sat opposite his father.

"How is she?" Draco asked

"Not good" Lucius sighed "She is so weak, I do not think she will last much longer"

Draco was taken aback, it was unlike his father to admit such fears.

"She is stronger than you give her credit for, father, she will make it out of there, just like you did"

"She will not leave that hellish place! Jasper would never allow it!"

"I guess, we'll just have to find a way of getting to him then" Draco said

The morning came all to quickly for Lucius, he was simply not ready to face another day, he slept in late and was only woke when Draco forced his way into the bedroom urging him to get dressed and make his way to the ministry. Lucius dressed hastily, not bothering with his usual preening routine, he cleaned his teeth then used the floo network to get to Jaspers office. Jasper greeted him with a faked warm smile and invited him to sit down.

"So Lucius, how is your dear Ebony?" he asked with mock kindness

"You know as well as I do she is weak and getting more so by the day most likely" Lucius snarled

"Yes, such a shame, she would have made such a pretty bride"

"Why did you summon me here?" Lucius said angrily

"Well, you see, I rather need your...skills once again" Jasper started

"I will not kill for you again" Lucius said forcefully, standing up

"You know, it really is a pity" Jasper said "She will have to die alone"

Lucius stormed from the office, not knowing if he had made the right decision or not, frustrated, he spent many hours walking through muggle London, he had no aim, he just walked, occasionally catching his reflection in shop windows. He looked tired and bedraggled, his hair was uncombed and a fine, rough stubble covered his chin where he had not shaved that morning.

He had been right when he said that Ebony was getting weaker by the day, she had been moved to a new, smaller cell, the type where they put people to die, there was no desk, she was not meant to have enough time to write to anyone, she had not received any letters either (although they had been sent) time had lost all meaning to her. Ebony no longer differentiated days, they all seeped together into one long, dark, nothingness where she was all alone. Her cell had no real toilet, just a hole in the corner of the room, nor did it have a bed, a blanket and pillow lay messily across the floor, Ebony laying just as messily on top of them. These were the most horrid cells in Azkaban, the dementors liked to be close to these cells most of all, they delighted at hearing the inmates last pleas for forgiveness and sucking the last good thought from their heads as they were whisked off into the unknown. These cells were checked once a fortnight for the dead, the stench of death never left those halls, it was almost unbearable, but by then, the inmates had lost too much of themselves to care.

Ebony rarely moved from her messy blanket on the floor, she just lay there, thinking she would surely die soon, there was a loaf of bread on the floor, by the cell door and a jug of water too, Ebony could not bring herself to eat or drink, she could barely bring herself to stand up most days, she was far too weak, she just lay there, mostly sleeping, sometimes looking at the ring on her left hand, she had almost completely forgotten Lucius, almost; occasionally he would flash across her vision as if he were some happy hallucination and in that moment she would remember everything that he had meant to her.

There were footsteps in the hallway, there were rarely footsteps in that hallway, Ebony lifted her head slightly to listen to them, the walked closer to her cell door and it was opened forcefully, a man dragged her up and through the building to another of the 'visiting cells'

"You have a visitor he grumbled" as he threw her into the room.

Ebony fell to the ground, too weak to stand for herself, at first she only saw the shiny black shoes of her visitor, they were pointed and heeled, with neat black laces, Ebony raised her head and before her stood a woman whom she did not recognise. The woman was extremely beautiful,tall and slim with white blonde hair, her face was perfect and she dressed impeccably all the while retaining a soft 'motherish' look to her.

At first the woman looked at her with loathing, and then she looked upon her with pity, seeing that Ebony could not stand by herself, the lady crouched down to help her stand, and to bring her to the bench, upon seeing Ebony fully for the first time, the lady gasped seeing that the girl was quite plainly with child.

"who are you?" Ebony whispered eventually

"Narcissa Malfoy" The lady said "but surely you know that?"

"Maybe I did" Ebony sighed "I do not remember anyone anymore, sometimes there is a man, with hair like yours, he flashes in my mind and then vanishes straight away. . .I do not even remember myself anymore"

"Your name is Ebony" Narcissa said

"Ebony? I like that" Ebony said "Although, it doesn't matter, not really, I suppose I am to die soon"

"Why do you think that?" Narcissa asked

"The pain, I suppose death is meant to be painful" Ebony said as a twinge of pain hit her, causing her to double over as if she were to be sick, Narcissa saw the basin in the corner of the room and had planned to help Ebony over to it, after all the girl looked very ill, Ebony gladly put her arm around Narcissa's shoulder and stood up gingerly, she had been standing only moments when the pain came again, far worse than before, Ebony screamed out and blood pooled around her feet, she collapsed to the floor and Narcissa frantically knocked at the cell door until an auror came and opened it.

"She needs to go to St. Mungo's!" Narcissa pleaded

Ebony was lucky that day, lucky that Narcissa was not all bad (although she was a very jealous person) and lucky that the auror sent to guard their meeting was a compassionate person who saw in an instant that Narcissa was right. Narcissa helped the auror lift Ebony from the floor and carry her to the boundary of Azkaban where the three of them apparated to the clean interior of St. Mungos hospital.

As healers crowded around Ebony, Narcissa felt more guilty than she had ever felt before, Narcissa signed ever piece of necessary paperwork so that Ebony could have a private room and waited anxiously outside as the healers did their job, she had made sure that Lucius had been contacted, and was relieved to see him rushing down the hallway towards her. Lucius glared at his ex wife as he stood beside her, waiting for the signal that he may be let into the room to see Ebony, a young mediwitch edged from the room and looked at Narcissa.

"Miss Malfoy, she is asking for you" she said

Lucius spun around, angered

"Miss Malfoy!" he cried "Why did she call you Miss Malfoy?!"

"Lucius, please quiet down" Narcissa begged

"Why did she call you Miss Malfoy?" He said quietly and dangerously

"I am a sentimental fool, Lucius. And God knows why, but I Loved you, I thought that meant something"

"You revoked all right to my name the moment you left" Lucius spat

The mediwitch stood herself between the pair

"You will not act in such a vulgar way whilst here" She insisted then turned back to Narcissa "Miss, she is asking for you, please talk to her"

Narcissa nodded and slipped into the room, Ebony laid weakly upon the bed, surrounded by Healers and potions and medical equipment, Narcissa sat next to the bed and Ebony turned to her.

Ebony's mind was much clearer without the presence of dementors.

"He must not know" She said anxiously "please don't tell him" She begged tears forming in her eyes

"He will find out even if I do not tell him myself" Narcissa said

"Then he shall hate me" as the tears fell down her cheeks

"No, Lucius will not hate you, he could never hate you"

"Really?"

"I promise it" Narcissa assured her "as for me, he truly despises me and I shall have to leave soon, you could not imagine how sorry I am" Narcissa choked back a sob.

Narcissa was telling the truth, she was sorry, for the first time she had seen the repercussions of her actions and felt more sorry than she ever thought it possible, she left the room and put a hand on Lucius' shoulder reassuringly, Lucius shrugged it off and rushed to Ebony's side, he took hold of her hand and turned to the healers.

"What happened?" he asked "is she going to be all right?"

"We think that she will be fine, whilst she is here at least, if you ask me they should have delayed sending her away with the condition she was in"

"What does that mean?" Lucius asked

"She was with child, didn't you know?"

"She was?"

"Indeed, alas, there was nothing we could have done for it"

Lucius was shocked, he didn't understand why Ebony had kept it secret from him, Ebony let out a choked sob and tried to sit up, it took a lot of her strength, but she managed it, she flung her arms around Lucius and muttered "I'm sorry" repeatedly in his ear

"It's okay" He reassured her "It wasn't your fault" Lucius felt tears well up in his eyes, and he tried to fight them back and be strong, but he could not manage it and for the first time in 40 years, Lucius Malfoy cried.

Lucius flat out refused to leave the hospital and was reluctant to leave Ebony's side at all, it was a kindly mediwitch that managed to persuade him to go to the canteen for food, he would not have eaten otherwise, upon returning to the room he encountered a most unwanted visitor.

Jasper Simms with two aurors at his side standing outside Ebony's door, Lucius glared at Jasper, feeling nothing but hate towards the man.

"You stay away from her" Lucius warned

Jasper raised an eyebrow at him, as if goading Lucius to attack

"You killed my child, I will not let you hurt her anymore!" Lucius said angrily

"I killed your..child?" Jasper said, curious

"Ebony was pregnant! And you sent her to Azkaban, all of this is because of you Jasper Simms! All of it! Just so you could get a bit of Power" Lucius spat at Jaspers feet

"I'd like to see you prove your little theory" Jasper mocked

Lucius barged passed him into the room where Ebony was sleeping, and sat next to her, keeping a close watch on the door.


	32. Promises

**AN: I got another review last chapter! Thankyou =D reviews make me very happy so please leave some! enjoyyy!**

Jasper was a very patient man, but, Lucius could be even more so. Both waiting for the other to give up and leave, Jasper should have anticipated Lucius' actions, unfortunately for him, he had not. Jasper had never credited Lucius Malfoy with the ability to Love anyone other than himself and with a frustrated groan, Jasper left the hospital whilst the two aurors stayed behind. Ebony had been sleeping, she had come to sleep a lot, Healers had insisted she stay in hospital for a few days longer, Ebony was thankful of it, she did not want to go back to Azkaban and in her dreams she could escape.

Her dreams were all the same, always in Malfoy Manor, always with Lucius. Jasper did not return to the hospital, yet the aurors were there constantly, taking shifts to watch her room. Both Ebony and Lucius dreaded the inevitable day when she would be taken back to Azkaban. The day started like most days, Lucius had awoken from his strained sleeping position from the chair, his head resting on the bed where Ebony sat tensely, she was scared and he could see it. Ebony had grabbed his hands fearfully, Lucius moved himself so that he too was sitting on the bed. He had pulled her close to him and she held onto his shirt.

"Don't let them take me back there" She begged him

Lucius knew he was powerless at that moment, he could not possibly stop them taking her away again.

"Please, I couldn't bare to forget you all over again" Ebony said in a terrified whisper

"Ebony" Lucius said assertively "You are strong, you can do anything you want to do, I cannot stop them from taking you back, but, I Promise I can get you out of there" He took her hand and stroked the engagement ring "And when I get you out of there, we shall be married, I will give you the perfect ceremony and you will have anything you've ever wanted thereafter"

Ebony held onto him tightly, feeling utterly let down that he could not save her from going back to Azkaban, she held onto him up until the aurors had entered the room, she let go and went silently without even looking back.

Malfoy manor seemed unnaturally quiet, had it been any more quiet you could have heard Lucius' heart beat echo throughout the hallways, he walked to the hidden room beneath the drawing room floor, and looked around darkly, a small cabinet stood in the far corner of the room, Lucius opened it forcefully and removed the wrapped up object from within. He knelt on the floor and slowly peeled back the brown paper enclosing the object, revealing the dark mask he had once wore whilst serving the dark lord, he stroked it fondly, as if it were a long lost treasure possession and he smiled.

Draco was curious when he saw the way to the hidden room open, he rushed down the stairs, knowing only his father would be down there.

"You want to do this now?" He asked, suspiciously

"It starts tonight" Lucius replied darkly

"well, it's lucky Jasper is needed at the ministry tonight" Draco said

Lucius nodded and threw Draco the mask, Draco picked it up hesitantly

"Are you sure this plan will work?" Draco asked

"It has to" Lucius spat "Now go!"

Draco had been unsure of the so called plan from the moment the idea had left Lucius' mouth, Lucius had always been rather observant, yet it all seemed too simple, Lucius had thought so too at first, but now, it was his only chance of freeing Ebony.

It was odd how Lucius had come to plan his plan, he had had the feeling he had missed an important detail or two for a while after the trial had happened and he had been full of anger and guilt, he had spent many a night searching within his own memories of the events leading to Ebony's imprisonment for something that may help and then it had come to him, standing clearer in his mind than anything else

"I never knew it was in the nature of a death eater to Love"

Lucius then realised how he and Jasper were alike and with that realisation came hope. Thus his plan was born.

Draco walked, begrudgingly up the driveway to the small house, pulled the mask over his face, withdrew his wand and with a sigh knocked on the door, the girl opened the door and shrieked. Draco stepped inside the house, keeping his wand pointed at her

"Mrs. Simms" He said "Don't panic, as long as you are well behaved no harm will come to you"

Sasha stood with her back pressed to the wall, and she nodded

"Your husband has done something bad hasn't he?" Draco said

Sasha's eyes widened "I don't know what you're talking about" She said

"Oh, I think you do" Draco said, pushing the tip of his wand against her chin "Your best friend is right now in Azkaban, and I think you know she shouldn't be there"

Sasha was shaking with fear

"who are you?" she asked

"I am the person that can help you fix everything" Draco said "But first you have to come with me"

Lucius was waiting anxiously, he knew Draco could be very persuasive, even without trying, that was why he had sent him to bring the girl back, Draco did not disappoint him, the clock had barely chimed 9 when Draco had pushed the girl into his study.

"Good evening" Lucius said as Draco removed the mask"Being that you're here, I'm assuming you want to do the right thing and fix this mess"

Sasha nodded, she was scared, terrified even, Jasper had told her of the brutality that Lucius was capable of

"Please sit down" Lucius said and Sasha obliged his wish

"Now, tell me, because I think you know, what did Jasper do to have Ebony taken from me?"

Sasha nervously wrung her hands

"I didn't want to do it" She cried "He said there was no other way, once I knew how she Loved you...I couldn't do it! I thought that lying to Jasper could protect her, and you"

"What did Jasper do?" Lucius asked through gritted teeth

Sasha looked at the floor

"He didn't do anything, he just sat back and watched his plan unfold! It was me" Sasha began to cry

"He had me go find Ebony, and bring her back to our house, his plan was to have you both in Azkaban! Ebony refused to say where she had been living beforehand and without that, he couldn't touch you, so he decided to frame her for a crime where she'd never step foot from Azkaban again" Sasha let out a loud despairing sob as tears poured down her cheeks

"How did he frame her?" Lucius asked

"He talked to Alyss, knowing she could get him a bomb and then he came to me again, he asked me to collect some of Ebony's hair, being an auror at the time meant he had access to polyjuice potion, I didn't want to do it, but he made me!" Sasha paused once more "He told me all I had to do was make my way to the auror department and leave it there, and I had to be seen, he said I should run to the bathrooms before changing back and only come out when I was back as myself, people would have just thought I was there to talk to him after all" Sasha sighed as more tears poured down her face. Lucius felt no sympathy towards her, a sneer was upon his face.

"Did your husband tell you that Ebony was pregnant?" Lucius said

Sasha looked up, eyes wide in shock

"She miscarried 10 days ago, the Healers told me it would have been a girl" Lucius was trying to make Sasha feel as guilty as he could, it was the only way to ensure she would help him.

"Is she okay?" Sasha asked

"The Healers fixed her up nicely, but the aurors took her back to Azkaban this morning, she was close to death when she miscarried, and now she has to start the same horrific journey all over again, she begged me to not let them take her away again, she was terrified, more so than you are now"

"Oh God"

"Jasper knew how bad she was, you know. He won't allow me to visit her, and none of my letters have been getting to her either"

"She is all alone?"

"Yes" Lucius said "So are you going to help me or not?"

Sasha thought for a few seconds

"What will I have to do?"

Lucius reclined in his chair, pleased with himself, a smirk spread across his face

"Well, that all depends on how much your husband Loves you"


	33. A bad day

**AN: Sooo...I had major writers block writing this so I am well aware it doesn't flow so well, I like to think of it as a space filler, nothing more, yet it had to be written for anything to progress! I've had a lot of things going on in my life recently, not much fun I tell you! I haven't been updating anything as much as I should, hopefully I'll be back on form soon eh! please leave reviews, thay make me happy! enjoy!**

The mood in Malfoy manor had become very sinister, Lucius smirked sadistically, looking at the scared girl opposite him.

"You do not have to fear me, Sasha" Lucius said "Now, tell me, do you think that you would be able to talk Jasper into letting Ebony have an appeal?"

Sasha shook her head

"Nevermind, you won't have to" Lucius turned to his son, standing in the corner of the room "Draco, I believe you have access to some Polyjuice potion?"

"Yes, father" Draco groaned, not liking the direction that Lucius' plan was going in

Lucius turned back to Sasha

"I sent an owl whilst Draco was fetching you, asking for an appeal, and I quite hoped that you'd be able to make sure of it, but don't you worry, Draco can be very persuasive, you shall of course be staying here for a while, and of course I'll need you to give evidence at the appeal"

Lucius stood from his desk and retired to the drawing room, very pleased with himself, he heard Sasha gasp with pain, he supposed Draco had taken some of her hair at that moment. Lucius sat back in his favourite chair, feeling very pleased with himself.

Lucius had not had long to relax when two Sashas walked into the drawing room, one looking rather awkward

Lucius sighed

"Draco, you need to have her clothes" he said

The Sasha that was really Draco, nodded, and lead the real Sasha from the drawing room, upon returning they had switched clothes, Lucius gave Draco an approving nod

"I trust you will be able to persuade him quickly" he said

"Of course" Draco said curtly

"Well, you best be on your way then, and for the love of God, do not forget to drink the potion!"

Lucius didn't really believe Draco would forget to drink the potion, but reminding him was what any good parent would do, Draco left Malfoy manor quickly, not wanting to be seen.

Lucius turned to Sasha

"I'll have my house elf prepare you a guest room" He said as if she really were nothing but a guest "MINK!" He bellowed and the house elf apparated to his side "I want you to prepare a guest room for Mrs. Simms here, take her to it when you are done"

Mink nodded and apparated to one of the guest rooms.

Draco had arrived at the small house once more and stepped inside it hesitantly, praying that Jasper had not yet come home, he walked around the house, getting to know the layout, it was quite a homely looking place, but, Draco was not at all impressed., he had just had his second dose of polyjuice potion when a rough voice called out

"Sasha! Coffee! I've had an awful day"

Draco rushed to the kitchen and tried his best to make a decent cup of coffee, he brought the drink through to Jasper who was slouched in an armchair in the living room

"Such a terrible day" Jasper growled as he sipped at the coffee

"Tell me about it?" Draco said hopefully, trying to sound as feminine as possible

"The Aurors were on my back about DiSilva all day! And there's the magical law enforcement team trying to pass a law about health checks before prisoners get sent to Azkaban and then to top it off Malfoy is trying to get an appeal!" Jasper let out a groan "And with recent events, well I probably should let him have it, bloody disaster if you ask me"

Draco sighed

"Do you really think Malfoy will be able to get anywhere with this appeal?"

Jasper shook his head "the trial will be biased in his favour though, I assume you read about what happened in the prophet?" Jasper looked up over his cup

"No, I haven't read the prophet recently" Draco replied

"Well, it turns out she was pregnant when she was sent to Azkaban, she miscarried a few days ago, had to be taken to St. Mungos" Jasper said bluntly

Draco feigned shock and horror

"No" He gasped

"Well there's nothing we can do about it now" Jasper said

"She was my best friend!" Draco shouted "You should have told me the moment you found out! How could you be so cruel?! I shan't forgive you"

Draco stormed upstairs in a fake rage and sat in the spare bedroom, it was days before Jasper said another word to the person he believed to be his wife

"I'm sorry" He said one morning as Draco was sitting in the spare bedroom once more "What can I do to make it better?"

"Let her have the appeal!" Draco said "A fair appeal" Draco added emphasis on the word fair

Jasper ran his hands through the dark hair growing from Draco's head

"Of course, I'll send word to Malfoy when I go to work today" Jasper sighed "I hate you being mad at me"

Draco nodded "You should probably leave now" He said

soon after, Lucius' eagle owl arrived at the small house, the small note said

'We have the appeal, a month from now, come home'

with that, Draco apparated back to Malfoy manor. Lucius greeted him warmly as Sasha watched from the distance.

"You must switch again, the night before the appeal" Lucius said sternly, Jasper would surely not let his own wife give evidence against him after all" Lucius smirked as he bade Sasha farewell, his plan was working and he was sure everything would be all right.

Ebony had been put in a cell more terrible than the last, yet she was more determined to keep herself than she had been before, She sat herself on the floor of her bench-less cell and let Lucius fill her mind, she muttered his name over and over, trying to ensure that she wouldn't forget him again, she knew he was capable of rescuing her from Azkaban, she didn't care how he did it, as long as they were together again- that was all that mattered to her. The same sort of thoughts were going through Lucius' mind, he knew the appeal would probably end with Sasha and Jasper in Azkaban, if it went to plan, but they didn't matter, they were nothing but pawns in his game to get his Ebony back. As far as Lucius was concerned, that was exactly where Jasper deserved to be.


	34. Same time, different place

**AN: Short chapter here**, **cycling through the same time in different places! Thankyou everyone who has read this far! YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME! Please leave a review! enjoyyyyyy!**

The days passed by slowly, Jasper and Sasha sat in their living room, the atmosphere was tense and Sasha was getting more anxious by the day.

"Are you still mad at me?"Jasper asked, genuinely concerend

Sasha shook her head "I'm just worried about Ebony" Sasha said, and turned her face away, Jasper rose from his seat and crouched down at Sasha's feet.

"Don't worry about her" Jasper said

"She was my best friend, and we destroyed her life"

Jasper stroked his wife's cheek

"You know the appeal is soon, you can come if you want"

Sasha nodded sadly.

Jasper had tried hard to keep news of the appeal hushed, but with just a week to go the news had leaked throughout the ministry, a whisper had just reached Kingsley Shacklebolt's ear and he stepped back in shock

"How on earth did Lucius manage that?"He asked

"Oh, it wasn't Malfoy...rumour has it that the ministers wife asked him to let the appeal through" the other man said "One things for sure, I'm not going to miss it"

Kingsley chuckled

"Oh I agree! I think everyone in the ministry will turn up for it"

"all hoping to see the minister taken down a peg or two I suppose"

"I just hope the girl is okay" Kingsley said with a sigh

"we all hope she's okay" The other man said "And you should know Lucius Malfoy will not stop until she is free, he's very determined that man"

"Arthur, I know that, but, Jasper is just as determined to keep her locked up" and with that Kingsley returned to the auror department.

It seemed that the only person unaware of the appeal was Ebony herself, who laid on the cold floor of her cell, stroking her engagement ring, she felt dark and alone, there was no happiness left in her, she watched from the bars of her cell as madness took hold of the other prisoners and as death eventually took them, she wanted the madness to take her too, she wanted to not have to feel or remember, by then she had already lost all hope of being rescued. She rolled onto her back with a groan, she closed her eyes and tried to sleep, but the screams from the next cell over kept her awake.

Anxiety and adrenaline pulsed throughout Malfoy manor, anxiety being the most predominant thing present in the atmosphere. Lucius Malfoy very rarely doubted himself, self doubt was not in his nature and the fact that he was feeling it scared him. He knew that he could not afford to feel such doubt, he knew he had to stay confident in order to get Ebony out of Azkaban, if he faltered at the appeal, it could make the difference between getting Ebony back and having her left to rot in Azkaban, he knew that Jasper would not make the appeal easy for him, but Jasper did not know Lucius had Sasha's help.

Sasha shared Lucius' anxiety, she did not want Ebony to stay in Azkaban and helping Lucius was the only way she could see of redeeming herself, maybe one day, Ebony would forgive her, maybe one day, Jasper would too, she wondered if she even deserved forgiveness, making the switch was a scary prospect, but she was even more scared of giving her evidence. The appeal was going to be the most important moment of her life, it would either make her or break her, agreeing to help Lucius was the bravest thing that she had ever done, before then she had only done what Jasper had wanted and her father before him, and now she had made her own decision, she felt free as well as anxious and scared, she had already started to change. The change in Sasha was like a distorted mirror of Ebony, as Sasha grew stronger, Ebony grew weaker, their similarity being that both were terrified.

Fear gripped the minds of so many people on that day, Jasper feared that his wife no longer Loved him as she once had, Lucius feared that he would fail the girl he Loved, Sasha feared that she would not be brave enough and Ebony was just afraid. There was no Lord Voldemort for the people to fear, but the wizarding community was afraid, they had grown to fear their government instead.


	35. back in the courtroom

**AN: reet O! I know that i've not been updating as often as I used to! I have not forgotten about you! there has been A LOT going on in my life recently, not even sure if I can pay my phone bill this month ): I will try my very best to update better with the next few chapters! Pleasre leave a review, and enjoyyy!**

The morning was bright and warm, there seemed to be no movement that morning. There was no wind to stir the trees and all the birds seemed to have slept in. Sasha sat on her bed, looking out of the window, she had waited for Jasper to leave for work before packing a small bag, containing a change of clothes and toiletries, and then she waited. At precisely half past eleven, the thing she had been waiting for came, an eagle owl, tapping at her window. That was her signal that they were ready for her and she should leave.

She had to apparate to Malfoy manor, Lucius was waiting impatiently for her in the drawing room, the quicker she and Draco switched places, the less likely they were to be caught. Lucius didn't say a word when Sasha arrived in his house, he just nodded in recognition,then continued waiting for Draco. Draco was apprehensive about switching places with Sasha once more, not only was the change an unpleasant process, but the potion also tasted quite vile. He walked slowly into the drawing room, having already squeezed himself into some women's clothes.

"I..err..need some of your hair" He said to Sasha

Sasha just nodded and pulled out a few of her hairs before handing them to Draco, who reached into a pocket and pulled out a vial of Polyjuice potion and dropped the hairs into it, the potion turned to a murky blue-ish colour. Draco swallowed a mouthful of the potion and had just managed to put the stopper back in when the change had begun, he doubled over in pain and when he stood straight he no longer looked like himself.

The clothes he had picked out for himself now looked loose and didn't fit his newly acquired Asian physique. Sasha sighed and reached into her small bag and pulled out a dress.

"I'm a 6" She said as she thrust the dress into Draco's hands.

Draco groaned and quickly changed into the new, smaller sized dress, Lucius walked with his son to the gates of Malfoy manor.

"Draco, I'm proud of you" He said awkwardly "I don't suppose I say so enough, but I am so proud"

"I know you are" Draco said, not lying although actually hearing Lucius say so was strange to him, it was a sentiment that Lucius rarely expressed. Lucius smiled and wished his son good luck before Draco apparated away from Malfoy manor. Lucius walked back to the drawing room, where Sasha was still standing, unsure whether she should sit or not. Lucius sat himself back down in his favourite chair and looked at Sasha.

"Sit" He said

Sasha sat quickly on the sofa and began looking at Lucius, analysing him.

"She's going to be okay" Sasha said "you're going to get her back"

Lucius smiled

"I know she is, but my mind still settles over the other outcomes, I couldn't bare to see her suffer in there any longer"

"Is Azkaban really as bad as they say it is?"

"It's worse than you could ever comprehend" Lucius replied darkly "You wouldn't understand unless you've actually spent time there"

Sasha looked away, she didn't want to look at Lucius, she had forgotten that he had been in Azkaban too, he knew exactly what it was like there.

Jasper did not return to his home until the next morning, his arrival woke Draco up, Draco quickly had some of the potion, his timing was impeccable as no sooner had he changed into Sasha had Jasper walked into the room.

"Good, you're awake" He said "We'll be leaving soon, the appeal starts at 9"

Draco nodded and walked over to the wardrobe , he picked out a plain, black dress and slipped into it easily, he chose flat shoes over heeled ones as he had never understood how it was possible to walk in those. At Promptly half past 8 Jasper and Draco arrived in Jaspers office and began making their way to the courtrooms, Ebony was not present at the appeal, Jasper did not see it as necessary, instead Lucius sat in her place. The courtroom was full, and every single pair of eyes were fixed one the man sitting before them.

A Lady in smart, black robes raised her hand once everyone was sat, this was the sign that they should be quiet and Lucius could begin, he coughed nervously.

"Ladies and gentlemen" He started "I called this appeal in light of finding new and shocking evidence pertaining to Ebony DiSilva's imprisonment in Azkaban, this evidence suggests that she did not commit the crimes she was charged of"

The lady stood up

"And does this evidence suggest who did commit these crimes?" She asked

"Oh yes. You see, it was Jasper Simms who planed this foul thing" Lucius said "and, his wife will testify, please, send her in"

The doors opened and Sasha walked into the courtroom, Jasper stood from his seat with shock

"Impossible!" he shouted "My wife is right here, with me!"

Lucius smirked, Jasper had been watching him so intently he had not seen Draco start to turn back into himself.

"You see, Jasper" Lucius said "Ideas are much like sons, mine are always the most spectacular"

Lucius smirked again as Jasper turned to see Draco sitting besides him.

The Lady in the black robes spoke once more

"Now we shall hear what Mrs. Simms has to say"

Sasha sat on an uncomfortable chair next to Lucius

"It was me" She said quietly "Jasper told me what to do, and gave me the Polyjuice Potion, but it was me, he told me to take the potion then enter the ministry, I had to be seen. He told me to place the bomb in the auror department then to run and change back into myself in the toilets, then I was to act as if I was just there visiting him"

"What makes you think we shall believe you?" The Lady asked

"Then give me veritaserum if you will! My story will be the same"

The Lady nodded "Administer the veritaserum" She said to a man at the door

and with that Jasper jumped from his seat once more

"No!" He shouted "I admit it!"

the whole room looked up in shock

"I used it all as a way to get power, do not punish my wife, I beg you"

The Lady turned to him

"Mr. Simms, she admitted to committing the crimes we must punish her"

"I used the imperius curse on her" Jasper lied

"Well then, Mr. Simms, we have no choice but to send you to Azkaban"

"I know that" Jasper said.

Jasper went quietly, as if Azkaban had already stolen the life from him, Lucius felt no pity towards him, Sasha had collapsed to the floor in tears. People filed out of the courtroom until eventually only Lucius and Sasha were left in there, Lucius looked at her and then he too left the room, Sasha was all alone. The atrium of the ministry was full of reporters and photographers, each trying to talk to Lucius and take his photo.

"Where is Ebony?" a reporter asked

"Azkaban" Lucius said "until the paperwork clears, tomorrow morning she will be a free woman"

"Is it true that there are plans for a wedding for the both of you?"

"Yes, that is true" Lucius said with a smile

"Is there anything else you'd like to say?"

"I just can't wait to have her back with me" He said truthully.


	36. Free at last?

**AN: another on that took me a while to write, although I am quite confident that the quality of this chapter is better than they have been of recent! please leave a review, I need something to smile about...Enjoyyy!**

The morning was dark and it was raining heavily, but it wasn't like she knew about the weather, there was no window in her cell, she couldn't hear a thing either, the cell was that deep in Azkaban. A girl sat huddled over a few slices of bread, hungrily. The bread was dry and stale, yet it was the only food she was ever given. She ate slowly, not wanting to use up the days food in one go. She was not shocked when the door was forced open, she faced the opposite wall, bracing herself, expecting to be manhandled like she used to be when she was first imprisoned.

"Ebony" A man called her name

She turned around, twisting her neck so that her head was at an angle. Ebony stood slowly and examined the man standing before her, he was smiling, she reached out to his face and ran her hands across his jaw line then let them follow his cheek bones and then they followed the line of his nose. Her eyes examined his face, settling first on his lips and then on his eyes, grey and piercing.

"Lucius" She muttered, more to herself than the man standing before her.

He pulled her close to him, wrapping his arms tightly around her.

"I told you, I would get you out of here" he said "Now, we'll do something about those prison robes, I have your favourite dress with me"

Lucius handed over her favourite long, cotton dress, it was full of colour, unlike her prison robes, Ebony held it to her cheek, lovingly before changing into it, it no longer fit right,she had lost a lot of weight and the dress hung awkwardly from her shoulders. Lucius wrapped an arm around her shoulder, protectively as they walked to the outskirts of Azkaban

"We cannot go straight home" He said "The press will be waiting for us, and with Kingsley back in power, well he wants to talk to you" Ebony nodded and with that they apparated to the ministry.

Aurors were sent to take them to the ministers office and keep reporters at bay, Kingsley sat in his chair at his desk, he beamed at the pair as they walked into his office

"Miss DiSilva" He said, still smiling "It's so nice to have you back, please sit"

Ebony sat in the chair opposite Kingsley and Lucius laid a hand on her shoulder, lovingly.

"Some people think you are not ready right now, for the truth, I on the other hand think you deserve to know, it is your right" Kingsley said

Ebony just nodded and Lucius squeezed her shoulder, she reached across her body and grabbed his hand, not letting go until the minister had finished telling her about how Jasper had planned the whole thing, she was unsure of how to react, so she just didn't react, she just nodded. Back in the atrium of the ministry, they were greeted by bright camera flashes, Lucius held Ebony close to him as she shielded her eyes from the bright lights, Lucius lead her through the crowd of reporters, pushing them aside so that they could pass. They apparated back to Malfoy manor, upon arriving, Ebony let go of Lucius' hand and slowly walked around Malfoy manor, occasionally running her hands over pieces of furniture, all the while Lucius followed her. She paused at a full length mirror, seeing herself for the first time in what seemed like an eternity, she ran a hand across her stomach and sighed

"I do not look like me, this is all wrong, I hate it" she said, glaring at her new, thin reflection. Lucius walked over to her and put his arms around her

"it will only take a short while of you eating normally and you will look the same as you ever did" he said reassuringly

Ebony nodded and walked out of the room

"I need to shower" She said, Lucius was left standing there, alone and worried.

The water poured down fast and cold, Ebony stood beneath it, completely still letting the icy coolness cascade over her body. Her eyes were closed, she did not want to look at herself. She reached out blindly to grab the shampoo, then lathered it into her hair her fingers snagged in the tangled mess of her hair, she tried pulling some of the knots apart, but it was useless, she groaned in frustration and banged a fist against the shower wall, she stepped out of the shower, with her eyes still closed, she did not want to see _it _at all. She wrapped a towel around her before she dared open her eyes. She walked to the mirror above the sink and examined her hair, dead and damaged it looked as if it were just one huge knot, she examined her face and ran a hand over her cheek bones and tears came to her eyes

"You are not me" She said forcefully to the reflection staring back at her, she threw her towel to the floor

"Not me" she repeated "You are not me, this isn't my body" Her jaw clenched as she hunched herself over the sink glaring at her reflection and the reflection glared back. The more she looked at herself the more Ebony hated what she saw, it just didn't look like her, in her reflection she saw a monster. Her hand edged slowly and mechanically across the sinks edge until it found the metal contraption it was looking for, her hand tightened around Lucius' straight razor, and she opened it slowly, almost admiring it, she pressed her fingertip to it's edge and smiled as a drop of blood appeared and fell into the sink. Determined to be rid of the monster she saw in the mirror, Ebony took the razor to her wrist, once to kill it, twice to be sure and then a third time out of madness, she sat herself on the floor, razor still in her hand. She carved into her stomach and legs and gurgled in delight as she felt the monster slipping away.

Lucius had waited, tensely, he had heard the shower stop running, but he had not heard or seen Ebony since, he walked to the bathroom and knocked on the door

"Ebony" he said "Are you alright?"

his answer was a small, crazed giggle and that worried him, he pushed the door open and was greeted by an awful sight, Ebony sitting on the floor, cut open all over the place, a puddle of blood forming around her. Lucius rushed to her side and pulled out his wand, he muttered a few words, trying to stop the bleeding and then he called for Mink.

"I want you to bring a healer here" He said "Then I want you to go to Draco, he is with his mother, tell him it'd be best if he stayed with her for a while"

The house elf nodded and bowed to her master and quickly apparated away, Lucius was not kept waiting long, just a few minutes after she had left Mink returned with a healer, she bowed another farewell as she apparated to Draco.

The healer bent down next to Ebony and examined the cuts

"You did well stopping the bleeding, " He said, "She's going to be fine"

The healer opened his medical case and took out a potion, which he applied to the deepest of the cuts.

"I assume she did this to herself" The healer said matter of factly

Lucius nodded

"Any idea why?"

"Azkaban, she was released today"

A solemn look came across the healers face

"The damage from these cuts are not permanent, " He said "But there may be some permanent damage, maybe it'd be best if she were to be in hospital?"

"No" Lucius said

"Are you sure you can cope? This may just be the surface of it all"

"We will cope fine" Lucius said

"In that case, there is nothing more I can do, make sure she rests, and keep an eye on her"

With that the healer left and Lucius carried Ebony to her bed.

"Why did you do it?" He asked her quietly

"There was a monster in the mirror, where I should have been" she replied just as quietly.

Lucius spent the rest of the day covering every mirror within his home and putting protective enchantments over the cupboards containing sharp objects, he left Ebony to rest like the healer had said. Lucius sat in his study, thinking, planning. He hadn't done so well helping to plan his first wedding, he wasn't going to be a hindrance for this one too. He was mulling over the question of venue when the door opened, Ebony stood in the doorway in a loose white dress.

"Are you angry with me?" She asked

"No, of course I'm not" He said "Come over here, we have a lot of things to discuss"

Ebony walked to Lucius and he pulled her onto his knee

"So, the wedding" Lucius started "What do you want?"

"Something small" Ebony said after much thought "After all, I have no one to invite"

"Just you and me then?"

Ebony nodded

"How do you feel about Hawaii?" Lucius asked

"I've never been"

"Would you like to go?"

Ebony thought some more

"Yes" She said

Ebony did not sleep that night, she tried to, but every time she closed her eyes her mind filled with the horrors she had witnessed in Azkaban, instead she spent the night tossing and turning and walking around the bedroom while Lucius slept on, she finally settled in the arm chair where she was alone with her thoughts and her thoughts weren't very happy, no matter what she tried to think about she was brought back to thinking the same dark thoughts and feeling the same dark feelings as she had in Azkaban.


	37. The healing begins

**AN: this was another chapter I had to force myself to write, oddly enough I have already written the final chapter, hopefully this dmaned writers block will end soon! Thankyou everyone who has read up until now, I really hope the rest of this story won't disappoint you, you are all awesome! enjoyyy!**

Lucius awoke, fully rested, Ebony had not slept. He rolled himself over and propped himself up on his elbow.

"Did you sleep at all last night?" He asked

Ebony shook her head, Lucius stood up and went to her

"It will get better" he said

They ate breakfast in silence, it was as if Ebony had left all of her words in Azkaban, Lucius watched her as she finished her toast and then sat with her hands in her lap, looking downwards, she was tired, but couldn't sleep. Ebony had gone to the library, she tried reading one of her books, it used to be one of her favourites, but now she just couldn't read it, it wasn't that she had forgotten how, but there was something stopping her from reading. She had scanned over the first sentence for the fifth time when she had had enough, she threw the book across the room and watched as it bounced off of one of the many bookshelves then skidded across the floor.

Lucius heard the thud of the book and went to check on Ebony

"What happened?" he asked

"I can't even read any more, everything's fucking wrong" She said as she ran from the room and into the grounds. Ebony sat under a tree, cradling her knees to her chest, everything seemed wrong, things were meant to be the same as they were before she went to Azkaban, but they weren't, everything was wrong, even she was wrong. The days that followed did not get any better, and the nights were just as disturbed, Lucius did not want to admit that anything was wrong, convinced that all she needed was rest and care. Her worst days were when she was reminded of how she was no longer herself, Lucius kept a close watch over her, having seen how quickly she could break down, but he still refused to believe there was anything seriously wrong with her. It took the events of a bright afternoon to pull him out of his denial, they were sitting in the study, Lucius was writing to Draco, and then she saw it, just faintly in the corner of her eye, reflected in the window was the monster, sitting where she should have been. Ebony moved, the monster moved, Ebony stood quickly and grabbed the back of her chair, it wasn't heavy and she lifted it easily, in one fluid movement she had smashed the chair through the window. Lucius had launched himself over the desk, but he was not fast enough to stop her, Ebony was sobbing, almost uncontrollably and all Lucius could think to do was to hold her close to him. With a flick of his wand, the window was repaired.

"What is wrong with me?" She asked Lucius, still sobbing

Lucius kissed her forehead gently, not knowing what to say

"Maybe, I should take you to St. Mungos" He said eventually but by then, Ebony was not listening, she just held onto him.

The hospital was a calm place, Ebony sat alone in a private room whilst under observation, it didn't take long for the healers to realise they should take down the mirrors, yet Ebony remained restless, she was under observation for a week when Lucius was called in to meet with the healer in charge of her treatment.

"Mr. Malfoy" He said gravely "I am sure you were aware that the stint in Azkaban could have left some damage to Miss DiSilva"

Lucius nodded

"I was aware, I had hoped otherwise"

"She is very strong, I believe that with time, a great deal of her symptoms will lessen. I am sure you noticed that she is most calm when close to you. She also experiences trouble sleeping. It took a lot of thought, but, we think we have found something that may help"

Lucius looked up and the healer placed 2 small pots on his desk

"These are a muggle medicine, known as 'sedatives'" he started

"I will not have her take that muggle poison" Lucius sneered

"Mr. Malfoy, these sedatives are not poison. They will allow her to live a normal life and sleep undisturbed" The healer said

"What will they do to her?" Lucius asked

"well the ones in this bottle" The healer said holding one of the bottles of pills "are for during the day, they should stop the violent outbursts she experiences and allow her to relax"

"And the others?"

"They are slightly stronger, to be taken at night, they will help her to sleep"

Lucius nodded

"We will send you a new supply each month, as long as she takes them, there is no reason that she cannot go home"

Ebony was happy that she didn't have to stay in hospital any longer and Lucius was happy to be bringing her home.

At first, he did not trust the muggle medicine, but after a few days he started to see the difference it was making in her, Ebony could feel the difference, Slowly progress was made, first the bathroom mirror was uncovered and Ebony looked upon her reflection, she was almost herself again, almost. Lucius had held her hand tightly as she looked upon herself

"By the time we are married you will be yourself again" He said

"Hawaii" Ebony muttered

"Hawaii" Lucius repeated

"and what about the muggles?" Ebony asked

"I am Lucius Malfoy, I could buy us our own Hawaiian island if I wanted to, but, something tells me you think that's a little too extravagant?"

"just a little, any old beach there will do me just fine"

"Any old beach? You deserve the best beach they have"

then for the first time since leaving Azkaban, Ebony's eyes lit up, she smiled a huge smile and wrapped her arms around Lucius

"I told you" Lucius said "I will give you anything and everything you want"

"All I want is you" Ebony replied


	38. Wild Mood Swings

**AN: Well this took a few days to write**! **I think I'm quite happy with it! I had a hard time thinking up a title for this chapter so I named it after one of my favourite albums by the cure lol Please leave nice reviews, they make me smile! enoyyy!**

Each morning had the same routine, Ebony ate breakfast then Lucius would make sure she took her medication, gradually each of the mirrors in the house were uncovered, each time another was uncovered Lucius and Ebony would stand before it and each time, Ebony saw more of herself looking back at her. Her hair had been a huge tangled mess upon leaving Azkaban, was now separated into dreadlocks, a decision that Ebony had made when she refused to have her hair cut short, Lucius did not like the idea but once the stylist had finished he said nothing more on the matter.

"The Healer wants to see us today" Lucius said one morning from behind his newspaper

"I know, you told me last week, I haven't forgotten" Ebony replied, looking at the tablet on the table disdainfully, Lucius lowered the newspaper slightly and looked over the top of it

"Ebony, take your medication" he said

Ebony sighed and continued to stare at the little white tablet for a minute longer before snatching it up and swallowing it.

"Good girl" Lucius said, forcing a smile, he knew she didn't like taking the medicine and it worried him

"For god's sake, Lucius! I am not a child" Ebony shouted "Stop treating me like I am"

Lucius had stood up and gone over to her, he placed a hand on her shoulder

"I'm sorry" He said, Ebony turned her head away from him, not interested in his apologies. Ebony quickly left the room, deciding she needed to change her outfit. Ebony spent the next few hours avoiding Lucius, partly because she was ashamed of her outburst and partly because the way Lucius had been treating her had become increasingly frustrating.

Lucius was silent as he took hold of her so that they could apparate, he remained silent as they walked to the healers office, he held Ebony's hand when they were seated, but she did not acknowledge it. The Healer smiled at the pair sitting before him.

"Hello, Ebony" He said "You're looking so much better this time"

"Thank you" She replied quietly

"This is a routine meeting, to see if we should revise your medication, do you understand?"  
Ebony nodded

"So, how have you been feeling recently? Any better?"

"Much better, I can concentrate on things now and I've been able to sleep through the night too"

"Well that's good, a definite improvement" He said, cheerily, he ten turned to Lucius "And the violent outbursts, you've been able to manage them?"

"we've managed just fine, the outbursts aren't so much violent anymore, they're more angry"

"When was the most recent one?"

"This morning" Lucius said

"Have you noticed a change? Do you feel the medication is helping?"

"Oh yes, on the days she actually takes it, there's a whole world of difference" Lucius said

The healer tutted and went back to focusing on Ebony

"You don't always take your medication?" he asked

Ebony looked away from the healer, Lucius squeezed her hand supportively

"When I take them" Ebony started "It's like I can barely feel anything"

The healer tutted again

"You should have made an appointment to see me before, there are other medications we can trial you on, maybe a weaker sedative is what you need"

"Do you suppose there is a way she could be taken off the day time medication?" Lucius interrupted

"I suppose there is, but, I wouldn't recommend it. Azkaban is more than capable of leaving permanent damage. I can only prescribe the medication, I cannot force her to take it. The medication will be sent in 3 days, once all of the necessary paperwork has been sent through"

"Thank you" Lucius said with a nod.

Ebony stood first, she walked quickly, ahead of Lucius, eventually, upon reaching the outside of the hospital, she broke into a sprint. Lucius was faster than her so he caught up with her easily. Lucius grabbed her shoulders and spun her around.

"You are utterly insufferable" He spat, angrily

"I do not want to spend my whole life medicated" Ebony shouted

"Ebony please, let us discuss this at home, people are looking"

"Then let them look! Let them see what an insufferable mess I am"

Ebony had begun to twist the engagement ring, edging it to the tip of her finger

"What are you doing?" Lucius hissed at her

"If I am so insufferable, maybe you should have it back"

Lucius closed his hand around hers, stopping her from removing the ring

"You are utterly insufferable, but I Love you" Lucius said, still sounding angry

He pushed the ring back down her finger

"Let me buy you lunch" Lucius said "let's put this behind us"

Ebony nodded and Lucius extended his hand towards her, but she did not take it, instead they walked side by side, a few inches between them

"We'd get there quicker if we apparated" Lucius said

"You already decided where we're going?"

"Well, I did think you'd like this Moroccan place I know. . ." He trailed off

"Have you got any muggle money?" Ebony asked quickly

"I have a few of their so called 'notes'" Lucius said with a sigh

"Good, that'll be enough" Ebony said and the abruptly stopped in front of a building.

Ebony led the way into the establishment, it was busy and there weren't many tables available.

"Give me the money and find somewhere for us to sit" Ebony said

"but it is filthy here!" Lucius tried to protest

Ebony was prepared to come back with with an angry reply, but Lucius had already begun to reach into his pocket and had pulled out his wallet. He handed it to Ebony with a sigh

"I'll be over by the window, okay" He said

Ebony nodded and walked to the counter. Lucius sat at the window, despairing at his surroundings, soon Ebony returned, carrying a plastic tray of food.

"At least the service here is fast" Lucius muttered

"Well, it is called fast food" Ebony replied as she passed over a polystyrene box, Lucius opened it hesitantly and lifted the burger.

"And this passes for food, does it?" Lucius asked

"Of course it does, it tastes good" Ebony said taking a bite from her burger, Lucius eyed the food suspiciously and then took a small bite from his own burger.

"I don't like it" He said sulkily putting the burger back in it's box and then putting the box back on the tray. Ebony ate quickly, not wanting Lucius to get impatient with her.

"I've never seen you eat so fast" Lucius said

Ebony didn't reply, instead, she turned her gaze downwards and finished her drink, Lucius reached over the table to hold her hand, but, Ebony quickly moved it away from him

"Am I not allowed to hold your hand any more?" he asked

Ebony sighed and moved her hand back across the table and forced a smile as Lucius squeezed her fingers.

"You must think I'm such a bitch" Ebony said

"Then you must think I am an insensitive, old sod. Things can't be easy for you, I should know"

"Lucius" Ebony said "Can we go home now?"

"Of course we can, let us find a nice, quiet spot to apparate from"

They walked away from the fast food joint together and turned into a small alleyway to apparate.

Lucius was relaxing in his favourite chair in the drawing room, Ebony sat at his feet, resting her head upon his knee, cradling a mug of coffee in her hands whilst he read the evening prophet. Lucius scoffed at what he was reading

"What is it?" Ebony asked

"A few days ago Rita Skeeter ran an article about us, did I tell you? Well there have been a plethora of replies"

"Oh?"

Lucius gestured for her to get up, he put the newspaper on the coffee table and pulled Ebony onto his lap

"Most people seem to think you're an innocent young girl that I am going to corrupt, Society still hasn't forgiven me for escaping Azkaban" Lucius picked the newspaper back up and opened it to the page containing the letters he had told Ebony about and began to read.

"'It is disgusting, an outrage, Lucius Malfoy has obviously taken advantage of a very vulnerable girl'- Patricia Goddard, 33, Somerset. 'Lucius Malfoy is a cruel human being, I say that a cheetah cannot change it's spots and he is just using this girl like plenty of girls before her'- John Griffin, 49, Camden" Lucius scoffed "Thanks for that John"

Ebony looked at the page, for herself and pointed out one of the letters

"Look at this one" She said "''Why can't everyone just leave this couple be, after all they've been through together they deserve a bit of happiness, I for one wish them the best for the future.' Clarissa Clark, 51,Surrey"

"Well, we have some support" Lucius said, nuzzling the side of her neck, Ebony turned her head to face Lucius.

"Do you Love me?" Lucius asked her

"Yes, I love you" Ebony replied

"Show me"

Ebony wrapped her arms around his neck and grabbed a hand full of his hair, pulling it so that his face tilted upwards, she kissed him deeply, she positioned herself astride him on his lap and pressed her body closer against his and rested her head on his shoulder.

"That much, huh?" Lucius said quietly in her ear, twisting one of her dreads around his finger, running his other hand over her body, cupping one of her breasts and placing kisses down her neck, he let go of the dread that was in his hand and let it slide down her back, he pushed his hand into the small of her back, trying to bring her even closer to him. Lucius moaned happily.

"I want you so bad" He moaned, moving his hand towards the zipper of his trousers, he moaned happily when he found Ebony's hand already there.


	39. Epilogue: 16 years later

**AN: SO it's finally the end...I know it seems abrupt, but I simply couldn't find a way of extending it that I found satisfying, I think, maybe when my life settles down a bit I'll make some revisions, until then this is the end. Thankyou so much everyone that has read all of this and left kind reviews, you guys really are the best. and for the last time...enjoyyy!**

The days of mood swings and uneasy sleep were long gone, Life hadn't become wholly easy, things were still difficult and like every relationship, Ebonys and Lucius' suffered ups and downs Their first challenge was the wedding itself, Lucius wanted everything to be just so, whereas Ebony didn't mind, but eventually, the whole thing was planned and they were in Hawaii. The ceremony was a simple one, held on a secluded beach just after sunset. Ebony was married in a floor length white dress and Lucius in a frilled white shirt and black trousers. They remained in Hawaii for a month before returning to Wiltshire, where they frequently reminisced, happily of their time away.

Lucius had been most shocked when one day, a few months after their marriage, Ebony walked up to him, a serious look on her face, she had sat herself on his knee whilst he had been working and had wrapped her arms around his neck.

"What is it, Love?" he asked her, sensing her distress

"Lucius, I think I'm pregnant" she answered him seriously, Lucius could not have been happier, he pulled Ebony close to him and kissed her. Their first child was Tristan Lucius Malfoy and their second was Julius Draco Malfoy. Tristan looked like his mother and idolised his father, growing his hair long just like Lucius had at his age, Julius was younger and looked exactly like Lucius.

Ebony was standing next to Lucius on Platform 9&3/4, Julius was holding onto her hand nervously, Lucius crouched down to his level and smiled

"Why are you so scared?" He asked, amused

"Tristan told me about the sorting test" Julius sobbed "I don't want to fight a mountain troll"

Lucius laughed

"You will not have to fight a troll, I promise" he said, ruffling Julius' hair, Julius then turned to Ebony

"Mummy, will you still love me if I'm not in Slytherin?" He asked

"Of course we will, darling. It doesn't matter to us what house you are in"

Ebony looked around the platform, wearily, scanning her surroundings for Tristan, who had gone to take his and his brothers trunks aboard the train.

"Granddad!" A voice called form behind them

Lucius whipped around as Scorpius ran towards him

"You've grown so much" Lucius observed, it was at times such as that when Lucius couldn't quite believe he was a grandfather, he still had school aged children of his own after all. Scorpius nodded in agreement before running back to his parents.

"I'm old, Ebony" Lucius moaned

"No you're not, silly" Ebony said "You are my handsome man"

Lucius scoffed

"You know as well as I do that all of this" he pointed at his face and hair "Is just speciality potions"

Ebony laughed

"And you should know that I don't think you need them" she replied, resting her head on his shoulder, there were bags under her eyes and she was tired, but not tired enough to ignore tristan sauntering over.

"Where have you been?" She asked sternly

"putting the trunks on board, it's crowded, ok?" He said

"Don't speak to your mother like that boy!" Lucius warned "You're not too old for a belting"

Ebony sighed, and held some of Tristan's hair

"It's really getting ridiculously long" She said

"You don't complain about dad's hair!" he protested

"Well, he isn't my son" Ebony replied

Tristan said something underneath his breath, causing Lucius to hit him round the shins with the end of his cane

"Ow!" Tristan exclaimed and then turned to his brother "Julius, come, I'll introduce you to some people" he said, not wanting to annoy his father any more than he already had. Tristan ad taken Julius by the hand and was walking off when Lucius shouted

"And while you're at it, take that ridiculous thing out of your ear!"

Tristan groaned , and stuck his fingers up over his head at his father and proceeded to lead Julius over to a group of girls he had been flirting with. Ebony smiled to herself as Lucius wrapped an arm tightly around her, in that moment she remembered everything that they had been through together, and smiled, life could not have been more perfect. She watched her sons, Tristan was showing off with a charm Lucius had taught him, whilst Julius watched in awe, admiring his brother.

"Just like his father" Ebony muttered, Kissing Lucius' neck.

Lucius looked over to his son, where the magic had stopped, Julius had dropped his lucky marble and it had shattered into hundreds of pieces, Tristan had lowered himself to his brothers level and smiled, flicking his wand, repairing the marble, he handed it back to his brother with a hug and another smile.

"And his mother" Lucius sighed, with a smile, kissing his wife.


End file.
